After the Backlash: ESG and State Pension Fund Investments

A Webinar Series on Data Sciences hosted by Ropes & Gray and Mass Insight Global Partnerships with support from Northeastern University

Thursday, August 8, 2024
12:30-2pm ET • 11:30am-1pm CT • 9:30-11am PT

Program Description

In the past year, there has been continued debate among states over how or whether environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors should be applied to the investment decisions for public retirement systems – with a whirlwind of state activity on this front, including new laws, executive actions and coalitions. Many of these initiatives have come from red states in which politicians have pursued (i) prohibitions on the ability to consider ESG factors to the extent they are found to be “non-pecuniary” as well as (ii) restrictions on the ability to invest with financial institutions that allegedly boycott certain industries such as fossil fuel and firearms.

This dynamic has created pressure for asset managers to demonstrate how their consideration of ESG factors supports investment returns, especially in states that have passed legislation prohibiting the use of non-financial factors. This timely webinar will explore both the data and marketing issues and ways that investment firms are responding to these challenges.

This webinar is the second in our four-part series in 2024.

Moderator:

Joshua A. Lichtenstein, Partner, Ropes & Gray, LLP

Speakers:

Dr. Philipp Aeby, CEO and Co-founder, RepRisk

Jack Bowles, Investment Director, ESG Advisory & Integration, Schroders

Kelly Shue, Professor of Finance, Yale School of Management