Real Deals ESG Conference 2024

Registration, coffee & networking

Chair’s welcome and opening remarks

Opening keynote

Private equity’s role in leading climate action - how private capital can accelerate and guide behavioural change in society

Examine how the sector has gone from ESG laggards to leaders in less than a decade
The drivers, both financial and social, behind the rapid shift in outlook towards ESG
Fiduciary versus finality - why the planet cannot wait for a profit-driven response to climate change
Exploring the need for a more harmonised regulatory framework to support the global efforts of private capital and ESG

Moderator:
Maria Nazarova-Doyle, Head of Sustainable Investment, IFM Investors

Speakers:

Clare Murray, Co-Founding Partner, Blume Equity
Rebecca Svensøy, General Counsel and Head of ESG, FSN Capital
Dr. Serge Younes, Head of Sustainability, Investindustrial
Graeme Ardus, Head of ESG, Triton Partners

Case Study: Clearwater International - How integrating ESG into the mid-market M&A process drives value.

The importance of education for mid-market management teams and early ESG maturity assessment.
The emergence of ESG DD and how it is driven by the investor landscape.
How ESG can impact the buyer universe, drive competitive processes, and impact valuations?
Beginning and end – how is ESG smoothing the onboarding process and providing value enhancement at Exit?

Speaker:

Joanna Daley, Director- Head of Impact, Clearwater International

Coffee & Networking

The expanding nature of ESG risks and its influence on deal due diligence

Identifying the core risks facing ESG managers in private markets
What are viable ESG risk mitigation strategies available to private capital
How to communicate ESG due diligence objectives to investment teams
Beyond risk mitigation and positive intent, how to select investments that provide viable environmental and social solutions

Moderator:

Speakers:

Denise Odaro, Chief Sustainability Officer, PAI Partners
Christine Chang, Head of Impact, Apposite Capital

Taking the lead on social action: The CEOs engendering diversity across their firm and investments

Reflecting on differing board approaches to organisational ‘social’ action - should change be enforced or developed organically
Delving into the statistics underpinning the value of diversity within organisations
Discussing the gender pay gap, and how firms have approached reducing the long-standing barrier
How developing diversity throughout a firm will create value throughout the portfolio

Moderator:

Speakers:

Robert Sroka, Partner & Head of Value Creation, Abris Capital
Anne Sheedy, ESG Advisor, Bowmark Capital
Lucie Mills, Partner, Value Creation & ESG, NorthEdge

Lunch & Networking

Tech Showcase

Build out your ESG ecosystem with five presentations from technology platforms & services

Position Green - Sustainable Investment
Novata

The ESG ecosystem: creating positive change throughout the value chain

The benefits of embedding standardised ESG policy and processes throughout a portfolio
Can supply chains be protected from human rights abuses, corruption or misdeeds
How to validate improvements along value chains, the third-party accreditations mitigating against malfeasance
Tools firms can use to embed ESG within their portcos and why knowledge-sharing is so crucial to the swift implementation of solutions

Moderator:

Bran Pathmanāban, Head of ESG, IP Group

Speakers:
Dr. Sofie Østergaard, Head of ESG, Argentum
Andrea Vallini, Operating Partner, NB Renaissance
Allegra Day, ESG Director, Cinven
Tony Christensen, Senior Manager, Position Green

Coffee & Networking

WORKSHOP STREAM A: The rising costs of ESG - reconsidering the balance of budget between LP/GP/Portco

As ESG demands grow, budgets and teams struggle with resourcing - can the financial obligations be more equally distributed between parties?
What is the necessary resourcing for a modern ESG team - size, scope and expertise.
Can ESG be linked to bonuses and carry? What KPIs define success in this regard?
Sunk cost or easy value-add - where is ESG adherence headed from a commercial perspective

WORKSHOP STREAM B: ESG Regulation - interpreting the rules of the game, aligning your firm and portfolio to expanding regulatory directives

How to avoid the pitfalls of SFDR directives
What is to be expected from TCFD as regulatory updates come into force?
Will the FCA’s SDR position the UK’s markets as global leaders for climate action?

WORKSHOP STREAM A: Discerning about data - the importance of selecting the correct benchmarks and datasets for your ESG strategy

Choosing the right benchmark and databases for your organisation, why industry-standards matter
Practical routes to utilising the mass of ESG data most effectively
Why collecting, collating and utilising your ESG data will benefit portfolio development in the long-term

Session leaders:

Ovie Iroro, ESG Manager, Endless LLP
Peter Roberts, Chief Sustainability & Commercial Decarbonisation Officer, Verdane

WORKSHOP STREAM B: Focusing on materiality - why firms should take a highly selective approach to portfolio company’s ESG impacts and how-to refine a hierarchy of needs

Developing ESG strategies can often be caught-up on climate action, but what are the alternatives?
Why developing a unique ESG approach can best serve your investment strategy
Understanding where your firm can make the greatest impacts and becoming champions of ‘your’ cause

Session leaders:

Roshni Bandesha, Head of ESG, BGF
Aga Siemiginowska, Head of ESG, Oakley Capital

Drinks reception

Real Deals ESG Conference 2024

Registration, coffee & networking

Chair’s welcome and opening remarks

Case Study: S-RM - Navigating ESG in an uncertain world

Panel discussion: The commerciality of quantifying ESG. How integrating ESG becomes a core driver for value creation

Pragmatic approaches to quantifying and evaluating a variety of ESG metrics
Understanding the linkages between ESG data, material efforts and value creation
From due diligence to acquisition to exit - the value of ESG at different stages of the investment cycle

Moderator:

Rebecca Liebel, Head of Munich and ESG & Sustainability, PER

Speakers:
Dörte Höppner, Chief Sustainability Officer, The Riverside Company
Richard Burrett, Chief Sustainability Officer, Earth Capital
Misa Andriamihaja, Private Equity Lead, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)
Christine Chang, Head of Impact, Apposite Capital

Coffee & networking

Assessing biodiversity impacts - how to proactively engage with the emerging push for biodiversity risk mitigation

The emergence of biodiversity impacts and how investors should prepare for regulation
How firms can begin to assess exposure to biodiversity risks
What are the nature-based solutions available to fund managers seeking an alternate course of action
What are the biodiversity regulatory expectations facing firms

Speakers:

Noëlla de Bermingham, Chief Sustainability Officer, Andera Partners
Maria Carradice, Managing Director - ESG Specialist, Mayfair Equity

Sustainable finance - The debt products encouraging better ESG outcomes

How long until sustainability become an essential element of debt products
The sustainability drivers behind Direct, NAV and Subscription lines.
How can sustainable finance become a more attractive new avenue for credit?
Understand the varied requirements that make sustainable-credit viable

Speakers:

Claire Hedley, ESG Director, 17 Capital
Stephanie Wall, Sustainability Director, Palatine
Katie Cotterell, Senior ESG Manager, Bridgepoint

Lunch & networking

Dancing around reporting demands - how best to refine ESG reporting requests

Information on ESG mitigation is ever-growing and increasingly burdensome, can firms cut through the tsunami of reporting requests
How best to engage and communicate the challenges of reporting between LP, GP & Portco
Aligning attitudes across the value chain, where can efficiencies be created and where are the greatest hurdles

Speakers:

Caroline Löfgren, Chief Sustainability Officer, Hg

Marta Jankovic, Head of Sustainability, Stafford Capital

Coffee & Networking Break

The Big Debate: The House believes that the utility of the EU’s ESG Fund Articles are no longer fit for purpose

The EU’s Article 8 & 9 classifications have come under scrutiny for the ambiguity of how or what justifies the designation. With many concerned the requirements for an Article 9 fund can be manipulated to include high-performing, high-emitting companies.
The panel will argue for and against examples that can be found in Article 9 funds
Do ‘activist’ investors create lasting change through ‘impact-focused’ funds?

Champagne roundtable discussions

The carrot & stick approach - can tying ESG KPIs to carry and bonuses drive faster change
Gender pay as a reporting initiative - why removing pay gaps is essential element of equity and inclusivity
Convergence or divergence - a conversation on where European ESG regulation is headed in 2024
AI as a tool to drive sustainability - how to use emerging softwares to maximise ESG adherence

Chair’s closing remarks