Green Bonds Americas 2018

Registration and morning coffee

Environmental Finance welcome address

Peter Cripps, Editor, Environmental Finance

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: A holistic view of the issuer and investor perspective

• What motivates issuers to engage with green bonds and consider issuance?
• What do investors look for when they invest in a green bond?
• Manulife's experience and insights gained from both investing and issuing green bonds
• Forward looking trends for issuance of and investing in green bonds

Halina von dem Hagen, Executive Vice President, Treasury and Capital Management, Manulife

PANEL: Domestic and international trends

• Trends in the North and South American markets in the past year
• How much did issuance grow by and in which sectors?
• Opportunities for USD investments in emerging market green bonds
• Regulatory developments: Are regulations likely to boost pricing of green bonds?
• Green bonds as a climate risk mitigation tool
• The growing market for social and sustainability bonds

Panelists:

Alexandra Liftman, Global Environmental Executive, Bank of America
Marcos Maciel Marques da Costa, Head of Investor Relations, Klabin
Dean Shigenaga, Co-President & Chief Financial Officer, Alexandria Real Estate Equities
Ed Solomon, Assistant Treasurer, DTE Energy
Aki Jain, Senior Financial Officer, Structured Finance, Capital Markets, World Bank Treasury

Moderator: Natalie Mordi-Hillaert, ESG Debt Capital Markets, BAML

ISSUER KEYNOTE FIRESIDE DISCUSSION: Case study and issuance review

• The green bond issuance lifecycle from start to finish
• What do decision makers consider before deciding to issue a green bond?
• What funding and ringfencing constraints affect the decision to issue?
• To re-issue or not: the reasons for deciding whether to issue another a bond

Panelist:

Patrick McCoy, Director of Finance, Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Moderator: Patrick Brett, Managing Director, Head of Municipal Debt Capital Markets, Citi

PANEL: The development of standards and guidelines

• Taxonomies discussion
• 'What is green' thresholds
• Additionality debate: do the supply/demand dynamics support it?
• What signals should North America take from the work of the European Commission and other bodies?
• The ISO's role in avoiding a fragmented market as regions develop their own standards

Panelists:

Stan Dupré, Founder & CEO, 2 Degrees Investing Initiative
Eila Kreivi, Director, Head of Capital Markets, European Investment Bank (EIB)
John Shideler, Climate Services Manager, NSF International
Stephanie Sfakianos, Head of Sustainable Capital Markets, BNP Paribas
Trisha Taneja, Senior Associate, Sustainable Bonds, Sustainalytics

Moderator: Hervé Duteil, Chief Sustainability Officer, BNP Paribas Americas

INTERACTIVE SESSION: Interactive audience polling of proposed taxonomies and standards

PANEL: ABS – an exponential corner of the green bond market?

• What are the benefits of green securitization for both issuer and investor?
• How is the ABS market for green bonds evolving?
• How can transparency be ensured?
• MBS: what potential do these markets have?
• What are the challenges in aggregating assets and tracking green data?
• New ABS opportunities
• The automotive and EV industry
• Leases from solar and wind assets
• Loans for energy efficiency upgrades, battery and storage projects

Panelists:

Lisa Bozzelli, Director – Multifamily Capital Markets, Fannie Mae
Christa Clapp, Research Director, CICERO Center for International Climate Research
Kurt Pollem, Managing Director, Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Real Estate
Thomas Ryan, Managing Director, Structured Solutions Group, ING Americas
Eric Shrago, Director of Operations, Connecticut Green Bank

Moderator: Matt Stone, Vice President, Securitization Finance, RBC Capital Markets

PRESENTATION: Uncertainty hanging over PACE market potential

• Which states are expected to join the PACE movement/program?
• What challenges are issuers experiencing?
• A review of the first public C-PACE and what this spells for this market
• While not green, are green issuances likely?
• New 'ability to pay' regulations: how hard will it hit supply?

Ari Matusiak, Chief Strategy Officer, Renovate America

LUNCH

INTERACTIVE LUNCH SESSION: Impact reporting working group

Places are limited. To register your interest, contact: tommaso.dimitri@fieldgibsonmedia.com

Investors and issuers will team up into groups to brainstorm what they need from impact reporting. They will then come together to compare and find solutions that works for both sides. The moderator will present the key takeaways to the audience after lunch. 

Issues to consider include:

• Front page information: what are the key criteria that investors need?
• What can issuers easily report on?
• Avoiding unpalatable costs for issuers
• No standard reporting vs no standard ask: achieving consistency for both sides
• Is standardization possible?
• Which metrics could be consistently calculated?
• Should impact reports be obligatory?
• How could software and tech can help?

Moderators: Isabelle Laurent, Deputy Treasurer & Head of Funding, EBRD
Tom Meuwissen, General Manager Treasury, NWB Bank

AFTERNOON ADDRESS: Honorable John Chiang, California State Treasurer

PRESENTATION: Impact reporting working group summary

The chairperson of the impact reporting working group will present a summary of the key points raised during the interactive lunch session.

PANEL: The investors’ perspective and drivers of demand

• What leads firms to incorporate ESG strategies?
• How are investors embedding ESG into the investment process?
• How do green and sustainable bonds fit into portfolios?
• Do you have to sacrifice return when you employ ESG strategies?
• How are green bonds performing on the secondary market?
• Should ESG requirements and parameters vary for different types of products? 

Panelists:

Jelle Brons, Portfolio Manager, Global Corporate Bonds, PIMCO
Amy Hauter, Associate Portfolio Manager, Sustainable Core Fixed Income strategy & ESG Research Analyst, Brown Advisory
Barbara Lambert, Senior Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income and Sustainable Investing, Addenda Capital
Stephen Liberatore, Managing Director & Lead Portfolio Manager - SRI Fixed Income, TIAA-CREF Asset Management
Bonnie Wongtrakool, Global Head of ESG Investments and Portfolio Manager, WAMCO

Moderator: Amy West, Head of Sustainable Finance, TD Securities USA

PANEL: Issuers’ perspective

• Case studies from issuers
• What is motivating issuers to issue?
• Restrictions that issuers face
• Cost of issuance in time and dollars
• Ideas for streamlining the process
• Issuer due diligence: is it worth it?
• Can low-cost issuance be achieved?
• Reducing the fear of getting it wrong
• Will accepted standards be enough to encourage issuance or are there still too many hurdles?
• The legal team perspective: are issuers adding risk for no reason?
• New issuers that are on the fence: what will tip the balance?

Panelist:

Marcin Bill, Senior Financial Officer, Funding - IFC Treasury
David Zimmer, Executive Director, New Jersey Infrastructure Bank
Calixto Mateos, Deputy Managing Director, North American Development Bank
Manuel Valdez, Head of Funding, CAF
Susan Love, Vice President and Treasurer, Export Development Canada

Moderator: Tanguy Claquin, Head of Sustainable Banking, Credit Agricole 

COFFEE

PANEL: Municipal and infrastructure bonds

• The impact of federal tax reforms on green municipal bonds: will it lead to tightening in the market?
• Aggregation of assets: how can municipal and city assets be bundled into green projects?
• Case studies: city projects funded by infrastructure bonds
• President Trump's infrastructure plan: will there be opportunities for green bond issuers and investors?

Panelists:

Matthew Kuchtyak, Analyst, Moody’s Investor Service
Jeffrey Diehl, Executive Director and CEO, Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank
Omar Daghestani, Managing Director, STIFEL
Lori Beary, Community Development Director, Iowa Finance Authority
Michael Brown, Manager of Environmental Finance Programs, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)

Moderator: Justine Leigh-Bell, Director, Market Development, Climate Bonds Initiative

FIRESIDE DISCUSSION: SDGs and the role of green bonds

• The role of capital markets in financing the SDGs
• What are SDGs bonds and who can issue them?
• How do we measure SDG impact?
• Emerging SDG reporting strategies and frameworks

Divya Bendre, Sustainable Finance Associate, HSBC
Shari Spiegel, Chief of Policy Analysis & Development, Financing for Sustainable Development, United Nations (UN-DESA)

CLOSING SESSION: Untapped sectors – what could be green in the future?

• Transition bonds: shipping, auto, manufacturing, airlines, metals and mining – why are we not seeing more issuance?
• The hydrocarbon industry – what can be learned from attempts at issuance?
• Agriculture and land use
• Sustainable building and affordable housing
• Infrastructure bonds: why aren't more of them green?
• Sovereign bonds: future opportunities for USD investors
• The power of supranationals to mobilize momentum

Panelists:

Rob Moore, Senior Policy Analyst, Natural Resources Defense Council
Michael Ferguson, Director – Energy Infrastructure & Sustainable Finance, S&P Global Ratings
Laura Segafredo, Vice President, Global Fixed Income Responsible Investing, Blackrock

Moderator: Marilyn Ceci, Managing Director, Head of Green Bonds, J.P. Morgan

Closing Remarks and End of Conference