Sustainability, Impact Measurement and Reporting: Evidence from a Benchmarking Study

Monday, March 27, 2023 – Monday, March 27, 2023
18:15 – 19:15

The Swiss Lab for Sustainable Finance (SL4SF) invites you to the online launch of its report entitled “Sustainability and Impact Measurement and Reporting: Evidence from a Benchmarking Study”, co-authored with researchers from the Geneva Finance Research Institute, and the International Finance Corporation. The report assesses the need for impact measurement and reporting standards by benchmarking the existing quality of ESG and impact reporting of 30 non-financial firms and 30 impact investors for comprehensiveness, transparency, materiality/intentionality, and other criteria.

Speakers:

Marie-Laure Salles

Director - Geneva Graduate Institute

Marie-Laure Salles became Director of the Geneva Graduate Institute in September 2020. Before joining the Institute, she was Dean of the School of Management and Innovation at Sciences Po Paris, a school she launched in 2016. Dr. Salles was Professor at ESSEC Business School, where she was also, in turn, Dean of the Faculty and Associate Dean for the PhD Programme. With a PhD in Sociology from Harvard University, Dr. Salles was, until her arrival in Geneva, Professor at the Centre de sociologie des organisations (CSO) at Sciences Po Paris. Her research interests range from the role of social networks in the transnational diffusion of rules, practices and ideas, to the historical transformation of capitalism and national institutions, with a particular interest for the evolving nature of the social responsibility of firms and for the changing conditions of transnational dynamics of economic governance in the context of globalisation. She has received several awards, including the prestigious Max Weber Award for Distinguished Scholarship from the American Sociological Association in 2000. She was also made a Knight in the Legion of Honour by the French Government in 2017.

Patrick Bolton Panelist,

Professor of Finance and Economics at - Imperial College London

Patrick Bolton is Professor of Finance and Economics at Imperial College London. He has previously taught at Columbia University and is the Chair of the SL4SF Scientific Advisory Board.

Rajna Gibson Brandon

Founder and Professor - Geneva Finance Research Institute

Rajna Gibson Brandon is Professor of Finance at the University of Geneva since September 2008 and Deputy Director of the Geneva Finance Research Institute. She was the founder and the Director of the Geneva Finance Research Institute (GFRI) at the University of Geneva between 2009 and 2016, and is the Chairwomen and Managing Director of the Geneva Institute of Wealth Management (GIWM) since 2016. From 2007 until 2015, she was Head of Research at the Swiss Finance Institute. She was the Director of the National Centre of Competence in Research Finrisk from 2001 to 2009. She was previously Professor of Finance at the University of Zurich, at the University of Lausanne and she was Assistant – Professor in Finance at HEC, Paris and a visiting scholar at the University of California at Los Angeles and at New York University.

She was also Member of the Board of Directors of Swiss Re from June 2000 to April 2018 and is since November 2018, a Member of the Board of Directors of Group BNP, France and since May 2022, a Member of the Board of Directors of the Swiss National Bank (SNB). She is also a Member of the Surveillance Board of Sustainable Finance Geneva, a Member of the Academic Advisory Board of RepRisk and has been a Member of the Swiss Federal Banking Commission (currently FINMA) from 1997 to 2004.

Camilo Mondragón-Vélez Panelist,

Senior Research Officer - International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Dr. Camilo Mondragón-Vélez is a Senior Research Officer and Head of the IFC Modeling Team under the organization’s Development Impact Unit since early 2015. He leads a team of economists in designing and implementing frameworks and economic models to assess and quantify the development impact of IFC and private sector interventions ex-ante. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgetown University.

Maria Teresa Zappia Panelist,

Deputy CEO - BlueOrchard Finance

Maria Teresa Zappia has covered a number of positions in BlueOrchard since 2008 like head of the investment team and chief investment officer. She currently leads the blended finance and impact management team and is responsible for BlueOrchard’s blended finance mandates (PPPs) and overall impact management and measurement practice. She also leads the Sustainability and Impact team at Schroders Capital, the private assets business of Schroders created in June 2021.

She has over 25 year experience in emerging and frontier markets, has authored and co-authored a number of publications, and is a guest speaker at several universities. She is the convenor of the Advisory Board of the Operating Principles for Impact Management, which is a best-in-class impact investing framework for asset managers and asset owners. She represented BlueOrchard at the G7 Impact Taskforce created by the UK under its G7 Presidency. More recently, she joined the Board of the NatCapResearch, a company specialized in biodiversity and net zero carbon measurement, and the Board of Swiss Sustainable Finance.

Prior to BlueOrchard, she covered several positions at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Asian Development Bank, and the Overseas Development Institute based both in the field (Africa, Asia, Central Asia) and in Head Office.

Karen Wilson moderator,

Chair of the Supervisory Board - Impact-Linked Finance Fund

Karen is an expert on sustainable finance, ESG, impact investment and impact measurement, bridging the private, public and academic sectors. In addition to leading work at the OECD, she co-led the launch of the Impact Management Platform, which aims to provide coherence on sustainability standards for companies and investors. She is Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Impact Linked Finance Fund and serves on the Pictet Group Impact and Sustainability Advisory Board in addition to other boards. In 2022, she was selected by the Sorenson Impact Center as a Global Impact Leader.