Kulturhaus Helferei, Kirchgasse 13 beim Grossmünster, 8001 Zürich 25/08/2020 18:30
More than 30 years ago, the major fire in Schweizerhalle and the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl triggered a rethink in the financial industry. The shares of affected companies came under massive pressure. It became widely apparent that the management of safety, health and environmental risks can have as strong an influence on the price movements of shares as turnover and profit development.
Formally labelled as “theme funds”, funds of this type remained mostly niche products for a long time. They were not infrequently aimed at investors for whom the application of basic ethical principles in investing money was more important than achieving returns. Where do we stand today?
Sustainability-oriented funds are no longer limited to eco or “green” funds; that was once the case. Starting with individual fund products among many, sustainability in investment today often represents the core of overall corporate philosophies and has become the comprehensive basic orientation of an entire industry. What was once called “green” or “SRI” is now “ESG” and is increasingly developing not only into an indispensable element of a professional investment strategy, but also forms the basis of an integral overall corporate strategy.
So what does this mean in general for corporate management, the heads of banks and asset management houses, the regulators? – And: What influence do these developments have on fund management in particular? What does it take to play a leading role among the competing major financial centres in these areas?
Panelists:
Gilles Boitel [Deputy Head Passive Sales Switzerland, DWS Schweiz AG, Zurich], Katja Brunner [Senior Legal Counsel, Swiss Funds & Asset Management Association SFAMA, Basel], Jonathan Decurtins [ETF Business Development Manager Switzerland & Liechtenstein, Invesco Asset Management (Schweiz) AG, Zurich], Ralph Kretschmer [Founder & Managing Partner, EBG Investment Solutions AG, Zurich] and Dr. René Nicolodi [Head of Equities & Themes, Zürcher Kantonalbank, Zurich].
The discussion will be kindly chaired by Patrick Schmucki [Senior Manager Financial Services, KPMG AG, Zurich]
