Agenda

The future of ESG in private markets: trends, challenges, and opportunities

Day 1

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Registration and networking breakfast
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Opening remarks
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Keynote: Sustainability with purpose: Exploring the logic behind rational sustainability
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Opening panel: Is the ESG drive losing steam? The current state of the market
  • How political changes could influence investment strategies and ESG standards
  • Analysing the potential impact of the US election result on ESG investing
  • How evolving EU policies may affect ESG practices in private equity
  • Impact of ESG in asset pricing, value enhancement, and exit outcomes
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Fireside chat: Navigating the era of regulations -strategies to enhance ESG performance
  • Overview of current regulations, such as SFDR, CSRD and DRD, and their impact
  • Implications of SFDR, CSRD, and DRD for fund management
  • Strategies for managing the transition from SFDR to incoming regulations
  • Leveraging regulations to drive ESG Performance
  • Complexities and implications of SFDR for portfolio management
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Fireside chat: Meeting the regulatory challenge - supporting ESG adoption at portfolio firms
  • How to prepare portfolio companies for increased data collection and reporting demands
  • How to use regulatory frameworks to improve sustainability practices and outcomes
  • Exploring ways to help portfolio companies navigate the regulatory landscape
  • Challenges and best practices for portfolio companies in their first year of ESG reporting
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Networking break
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Roundtables:
  • Supply chain and societal risks: Addressing human rights regulations and leveraging ESG strategies to mitigate broader challenges, including cost of living issues
  • Carbon pricing and CBAM: Navigating ESG regulations in a changing policy landscape
  • ESG in the UK: Examining labelling requirements and impact investing challenges
  • How the roles of Chief Sustainability Officer and Head of sustainability are reshaping ESG strategies and stakeholder engagement
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Fireside- chat: Engaging portfolio companies in the ESG journey
  • Best practices for engaging portfolio companies on ESG initiatives
  • Exploring ways to support portfolio companies in their ESG transition
  • Success stories and lessons learned from industry leaders
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Networking lunch
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Spotlight session: Best-in-class ESG solutions
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STREAM A: Harnessing DEI to inspire young leaders in sustainability initiatives
  • The importance of DEI
  • How to find the right people to drive ESG initiatives
  • Exploring how to create a good environment for young people to be engaged in ESG initiatives
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STREAM B: Putting technology and AI to work
  • Leveraging technology and AI to monitor ESG performance in real-time.
  • The role of AI and advanced analytics in enhancing ESG data capture, analysis, and performance improvement.
  • Predictive modelling and forecasting: Using AI-powered predictive modelling and forecasting to anticipate and address ESG-related risks and opportunities.
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STREAM A: Engaging and retaining talent
  • Talent retention in portfolio companies: what keeps employees engaged and motivated.
  • How PE firms are implementing employee engagement initiatives
  • Bridging the knowledge gap: training on topics like carbon net zero and emissions reduction engagement.
  • Empowering portfolio company teams: ways to provide the necessary resources to support and drive ESG initiatives.
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STREAM B: Cyber security and its importance in the ESG landscape
  • Protecting data and systems as a core component of ESG strategies
  • The role of emerging technologies like blockchain and AI in enhancing cyber security and addressing ESG concerns
  • Examples of how technological advances are shaping the future of cyber security in the ESG landscape
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Networking break
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Panel: Enhancing ESG performance through data
  • How PE firms benchmark ESG performance with their peers
  • Strategies for PE firms to improve the quality of their ESG data and keep it up- to-date
  • Translating data into action: how PE firms are using ESG data to drive tangible changes and improvements within their portfolio companies
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Fireside chat: Emerging trends in impact investing
  • Analysing the rise of thematic impact funds (e.g., climate funds) and their appeal to LPs
  • Identifying new impact investing themes and opportunities
  • The role of incentivization in driving ESG performance within firms
  • What’s the future of impact investing
Closing remarks

Agenda

The future of ESG in private markets: trends, challenges, and opportunities

Day 2

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Registration and networking breakfast
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Opening remarks
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Keynote: The importance of biodiversity and natural capital
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Panel: Biodiversity and natural capital
  • Biodiversity reporting and frameworks
  • What’s the progress on biodiversity and the implications of recent regulations?
  • Exploring the risks, opportunities, and dependencies related to biodiversity
  • Examine the healthcare and energy sectors and their influence on ESG trends
  • The impact of biodiversity on portfolio companies and the potential opportunities for value creation
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Panel: Climate change: what’s happening?
  • Focus on climate investing across different private equity funds
  • An overview on successful initiatives and challenges
  • How to finance and support climate initiatives and ecosystem restoration
  • Strategies for private market firms to address greenhouse gas emissions
  • Focus on PMDR- how do we actually track progress? What do LPs want from GPs?
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Networking Break
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Fireside- chat: Charting the path to Net Zero
  • Best practices for integrating Net Zero targets into investment decision-making
  • Tools and frameworks for assessing progress towards Net Zero
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Roundtables

(30 minutes each, then the attendees will swap table)
Decarbonization initiatives:
showcasing examples of portfolio companies that have successfully implemented decarbonization strategies. What were the challenges?
Circular economy and waste management: how to set and achieve these targets. How to overcome the challenges.

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Networking lunch
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Fireside chat: Driving a successful sustainability transformation
  • Insights on how private equity firms can support and drive sustainability transformations within their portfolio companies
  • How ESG data and performance metrics are evolving, and how they will impact sustainability and value creation
  • Stakeholder scrutiny: how do investors scrutinise ESG data and performance?
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Roundtables:
  • Financial values and sustainability values: Examining the confusion between financial values and ESG values in the industry
  • Greenwashing and ESG integrity: Addressing concerns about greenwashing and clarifying the meaning of ESG and sustainable investment
  • The role of financing and ESG: Discussing the intersection of financing and ESG, including the focus on regenerative finance and restoring natural resources
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Panel: Next steps - where do we go from here?
  • What’s next for ESG?
  • Impact of political shifts in the US on ESG investment decisions
  • Taking stock of the progress made and identifying emerging trends
Closing remarks and networking drinks