Author: Joanne Frearson
Sylvia Solomon, ASIP Head of Investment, Private Markets at EEA Fund Management gives her thoughts on what practical considerations the Certificate in ESG Investing might take into account following the Covid-19 pandemic
But following the current Covid-19 global pandemic, what do industry professionals need to know to keep themselves up to date with ESG investing?
At the moment version two of the Certificate in ESG Investing syllabus is at its end stages of being developed. Solomon, who has been helping bring this together believes these changes will be extremely useful for candidates.
“This is actually an exam which was developed by practitioners, for practitioners,” says Solomon. “It’s real its fast moving and we have to ensure that learning material reflects that.”
The curriculum for version two has involved spending time on global trends, looking at the interactions and linkages between various countries and regions. Models and ‘what if’ scenarios have been tested and a number case studies, used which are now very topical in the press, both from a governance and social perspective.
In terms of expanding future versions, she thinks the focus should be on data.
“Interestingly now more so than ever, there are more data points coming up for ESG, especially on a societal level, which were not there before,” she says.
According to Solomon the resistance to some people adopting ESG has been because of the asymmetry in information.
She says: “This crisis is acting as a tail wind and spur, to generate even more information, to be able to perfect those models going forward.”
This article was recorded on Friday 10th April over Zoom.