Fixed Income & ESG, featuring the Green Bonds Europe Conference

10.40

DEBATE: Do green bonds make a difference?

Theme: Can green bonds mitigate climate risk? What difference do they make for the environment?

Speakers:

Stan Dupre, CEO, 2° Investing Initiative
Lars Eibeholm, Head of Treasury, Nordic Investment Bank

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

 10.45

KEYNOTE: Contrasting the difference between ESG in fixed income and ESG in equities
Speaker: My-Linh Ngo, Head of ESG Investment Risk, BlueBay Asset Management

11.05

PANEL: Driving supply: What is the future of the green and social bond market?

• Asset Selection - why and how issuers source new eligible assets to keep active in the green and social bond market
• Future Pipeline - pure plays, credit nhancements, securitisations
• Credit Ratings - Potential impact of green and social bond issuance on credit ratings
• Market Development - challenges to building an inclusive market open to all geographies and sectors

Speakers:

Christian Nickels-Teske, Head of Treasury Europe & Capital Markets, Prologis
Benjamin Gusse, Senior Treasury Officer, African Development Bank
Rahul Ghosh, Senior Vice President
Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) and Green Bonds, Moody's Investors Service
Richard Salmon,Director, Balance Sheet Funding, Westpac Banking Corporation
Lily Low, CFO, Envision Energy

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

 11.05

PANEL: Defining and understanding ESG

• What does "doing ESG" mean for a fixed income investor? Integration and pricing? SRI? Exclusions? Are there geographic discrepancies in the and definition?

• Which are the most material aspects of ESG in fixed income? How do ESG credentials impact the bottom line?

• Do ESG considerations help with downside risk protection?

• Managing risks vs finding opportunities – why do fixed income investors consider ESG in investments?

Speakers:

Christoph Klein, Partner and Portfolio Management, nordIX
Julia Haake, Head of Responsible Investment Advisory, Oekom
Matthias Seewald, CIO and Member of Executive Committee, Allianz France

Moderator: Julia Kochetygova, Senior Sustainable Research Analyst, Northern Trust

11.55

PANEL: Market developments needed to secure another decade of green bond growth

Hear a panel of high-profile speakers suggest what market participants in the green bond market need to do differently to drive market growth and how to go about it. Themes will include the innovation of green bond products and expansion into new sectors; how second opinion providers should evolve to meet the needs of an expanding market and how standards should develop in the next 10 years.

Speakers:

Anne Leclercq, Director Treasury and Capital Markets, Belgian Debt Agency
Eila Kreivi, Head of Capital Markets, European Investment Bank
Brian Fenton, Head Credit and Credit Derivatives - Global Asset Allocation,
Swiss Re Management
Agustin Silvani, Vice-President, Conservation Finance, Conservation International

Moderator: Marilyn Ceci, Managing Director, Head of Green Bonds, JP Morgan 

11.50

PANEL: ESG in credit risk and ratings
This session, featuring credit rating agency (CRA) representatives and an asset manager, will:

• Explore the extent to which ESG factors have traditionally been considered in credit risk analysis
• Take stock of recent developments and their drivers
• Discuss the challenges that credit practitioners are facing, as ESG consideration becomes more systematic

Speakers:

Michael Wilkins, Head of Sustainable Finance, S&P

My-Linh Ngo, Head of ESG Investment Risk, BlueBay Asset Management
Brian Cahill, Managing Director, Moody's Investors Service

Moderator: Carmen Nuzzo, Senior Consultant, Credit Ratings Initiative, PRI

12:40

PRESENTATION: Green Bond Principles – next steps

Speaker: Nicholas Pfaff, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA

 12:35

PRESENTATION: ESG and carbon risk in sovereign bonds – the investor view

Speaker:
Ophélie Mortier, Responsible Investment Strategist, Degroof Petercam Asset Management

14.00 

PANEL: Innovation through ABS and other structured products

• Is the green ABS and covered bonds market expected to grow?
• The view of issuers of labelled and non-labelled ABS and RMBS
• Can green structured products trigger pricing benefits?
• Green ABS and climate risk mitigation

Speakers:

Eivind Hegelstad, CFO, SpareBank 1 Boligkreditt
Antonio Keglevich, Head of Sustainability Bond Origination, UniCredit
Corinne Bendersky, Associate Director
Sustainable Finance, S&P Global
Max Bronzwaer, Executive Director & Treasurer, Obvion Hypotheken

Moderator: Tim Conduit, Partner, Allen & Overy

 14.00

PANEL: Pricing ESG risks in fixed income

• How do you practically go about pricing ESG risks in fixed income? What tools/strategies are available?
• The practitioner point of view on ESG and credit risk
• What are the biggest challenges in pricing ESG risks in fixed income?

Speakers:

Mitch Reznick, Co-head of Credit, Hermes Investment
Rodolphe Bocquet, CEO and co-founder, Beyond Ratings
Manuel Guerena, Senior Corporate Analyst, Emerging Markets Debt – Corporates, Neuberger Berman

Moderator:  Joe Abrams, Senior Researcher, Mercer

14.45

Why investors are increasingly reviewing the ESG profiles and long-term sustainability strategies of issuers

• The importance of issuer ESG profiles
• How do investors analyse ESG profiles? What are they looking for and how will this evolve in the future?
• Will "ESG bonds" become an important part of the market? Or will we see more sustainability and social bonds? Do we need to categorise them separately?
• Is there a significant universe of issuers with a credible low-carbon transition strategy? How can issuers do better?
• Can a credible transition strategy impact pricing?
• Is there a correlation between an issuer's credit risk and ESG risk?
• Will the increased focus on ESG integration and long-term transition strategies pave way for green bond issues in new sectors where issuers can prove they are on a green transition path? How will this impact the market?

Speaker: Ulf Erlandsson, CIO, Glacier Impact, Strukturinvest
Erwan Créhalet, ‎Credit analyst - Green bonds & Climate risks, ‎Crédit Agricole CIB
Alice Val, Responsible Investment Analyst, AXA IM
Trisha Taneja, Head of Sustainable Bonds, Americas and APAC, Sustainalytics
Mathilde Dufour, Co-Head Sustainable Investment Research, Mirova

Moderator:  Felipe Gordillo, Senior ESG Analyst, BNP Paribas Asset Management

 14.45

PANEL: Bondholder engagement

• Reasons behind increasing bondholder activism with examples of successful engagement.
• Do bond holders carry as much weight as shareholders?
• Examples of where ESG engagement could have helped bondholders and recent cases where bondholders are getting involved
• Do we need a structured engagement process for bondholders?
• What levers do they have if the issuer doesn't respond?
• Green bond as a form of activism
• How to engage with sovereigns?

Speakers:

Mitch Reznick, Co-head of Credit, Hermes Investment
James Fisher, Partner, Reed Smith
Robert Walker, Managing Director, Head of EMEA Asset Stewardship, State Street Global Advisors

Moderator: Justin Sloggett, Head of Public Markets, PRI