Sustainability Network Speaker Series: Do shareholders hold the key to sustainable companies?

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Shareholder activism is increasingly used by shareholders to exert change and shape corporate strategies towards environmental, social and governance issues.

But does the reality of shareholder activism live up to the hype?

In this Sustainability Network Speaker Series session, we are bringing together expertise from two Cranfield School of Management thought leadership groups, for this exciting collaboration between Economics and Banking and Sustainable Business.

We invite you to join this session with a talented, global, panel of shareholder activism experts from different vantage points in the financial services industry.

Chaired by Dr Emmeline Cooper and Professor Catarina Figueira, this engaging panel discussion will explore if - and how - shareholder activism can really enhance the sustainability of companies.

This lunchtime webinar will be broadcast live from Cranfield Broadcast and Record, Cranfield University's live-streaming studio.

Register via Zoom

Speakers

Dr Emmeline Cooper - Chair

Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Visiting Fellow, Cranfield University

Emmeline teaches the Green and Sustainable Finance Module, part of the Management and Corporate Sustainability MSc. She is Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Chair of Law and Finance, University of Zurich, researching and supporting institutional investors on attitudes towards sustainability.

Professor Catarina Figueira - Chair

Professor of Applied Economics and Policy, Cranfield University

Catarina is Professor of Applied Economics and Policy. She directs the Economics and Finance Centre and is Head of the Economics and Banking group at the School of Management of Cranfield University. Catarina is Director of the Executive Retail and Digital Banking MSc, the first UK Apprenticeship in Banking. She was a former Director of the Cranfield Executive MBA Programme. Catarina undertakes research focusing on sustainable banking and long-term productivity in the financial industry.

Therese Kieve

Senior Stewardship Analyst, Sarasin and Partners LLP

Therese is responsible for undertaking rigorous analysis on the financial implications of ESG factors for specific stocks as well as on a sector/industry basis. She supports and leads company engagements and voting, with a particular focus on labour rights, human rights and diversity and inclusion. She also chairs the 30% Club UK Investor Group’s Race Equity Workstream. She holds an MSc in Corporate Governance and Business Ethics from University of London, a BMath in Actuarial Science from the University of Waterloo, Canada and is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Kevin Chuah

Assistant Professor of International Business & Strategy, Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business

Kevin is an Assistant Professor of International Business & Strategy at Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business and a Research Fellow at the Wharton ESG Initiative. Kevin’s research interests relate to corporate governance, corporate sustainability, and responsible investment. Specifically, his research examines how shareholder activism influences firms’ strategies in relation to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Before academia, Kevin had an extensive career in the investment management industry. He was a portfolio manager at BlackRock within the Multi-Asset Strategies group. Kevin previously held portfolio management roles at Man AHL and First Sentier Investors. Kevin holds a PhD in Strategy and Entrepreneurship from London Business School, an MSc in Statistics (Research) from the London School of Economics, and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales, where he was a UNSW Co-op Program scholar.

Mahesh Roy

Programme Director, Investor Practices

Mahesh leads the Investor Practices programme at IIGCC, working with investors on their climate change strategies. His team develops industry leading guidance such as the Net Zero Investment Framework and Physical Climate Risk Assessment Methodology, as well as running initiatives such as Net Zero Asset Managers and Paris Aligned Asset Owners. He is the UNFCCC’s Marrakech Partnership focal point for Finance, linking non-state actors in finance with parties to the convention. He was previously UK Director & Global Lead for Net Zero at the environmental NGO CDP, building on an 18-year career in Banking and Finance, predominately at Macquarie Group where he led specialist teams in Financial Services and Healthcare. He holds an MBA, Energy from Cranfield University..

Who should attend?

This is an open, free event to Cranfield University staff and students and business and sustainability enthusiasts alike. This session is for anyone with a curiosity about how to gain more awareness of how to make their own sense of the globally pressing sustainability issues and how to consciously shift good intentions into meaningful actions.

How to register

Use the link below to register via Zoom.

Register