FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
esg Leaders Awards 2013 at TBLI CONFERENCE EUROPE Sees esg and Impact Investing Reaching Tipping Point
Amsterdam, 25 November, 2013 TBLI CONFERENCE™, a global ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and impact investing forum for asset owners and managers, presented the ESG Leaders Awards 2013 at its 24th conference, held in Zurich on November 14/15, 2013. TBLI has been bringing together thought leaders and practitioners in the sustainable finance industry for the past 15 years, with events held across Asia, Europe and the US.
Angela de Wolff, Founder of ConSer Invest SA, who led the award ceremony as a member of the Jury, highlighted the positive trend observed for this year’s Awards: that asset owners and managers are pursuing ESG integration in all asset classes, and innovation is reinforced and supported in the impact investing field. The jury also included George Latham (WHEB Asset Management LLP, UK) and Ronald Lubberts (respEquity, NL).
Voted Best Investor In ESG (focus on Asset Owners) is VBV – Vorsorgekasse. “It is a great honor to be awarded as ‘Best ESG Investor’ by the jury of TBLI in the area of social responsible investing.” says Günther Herndlhofer of VBV. “We are very proud to receive an international distinction as this proves that our commitment and high standards in ESG investing are more than state of the art.” The Award is sponsored by Vontobel Asset Management.
The award for Best ESG Research (sponsored by BNY Mellon Asset Management International) went to MSCI ESG Research. “We are delighted to have been voted the best ESG research provider,” said Remy Briand, Managing Director and Head of MSCI Index and ESG Research. “This award highlights our commitment not only to innovative products, such as the Barclays MSCI ESG Fixed Income Indices and MSCI ESG DataMetrics, but to provide consistently high quality data, extensive global coverage, and excellent client service.”
The award for the Most Innovative Impact Investing Project (sponsored by Credit Suisse) went to The Moringa Partnership and LGT Venture Philanthropy was selected as Best Impact Investor (sponsored by Inrate). When asked what this award means to them, Dr. Katharina Sommerrock, Head of Philanthropy Advisory, of LGT responds: “While this award is certainly a great acknowledgement for the work we have been doing over the past 6 years, we also understand it as a mandate to continue our efforts and help create even more social and ecological impact with our approach”, said Sommerrock. “Thank you all for this honor, also in the name of the four million less advantaged people, whose quality of life is improved by our portfolio organization. Winning this award is an additional stimulus for us to help improve the quality of life of even more people in the future.“
The conference attracted more than 300 financial industry professionals and representatives of sustainable businesses. High-level speakers included Filippo Lombardi, President of the Swiss Council of States , Christopher Wasserman, President & Founder of Zermatt Summit and Daniel Wiener, President of the Board of Global Infrastructure Basel.
“This was a really good conference. It was very informative and helpful, and it was great to be able to connect with such an interesting group.” says Nerissa Martin, Family Trust Advisor of Tolkien Trust. According to Howard Pierce, former ceo of the Environment Pension Fund, TBLI again proved to have a special skill in bringing together a unique, interesting and diverse group of people, which makes TBLI stand out among other conferences. “There were some really interesting new funds for investors to consider”, Pierce said.
In 2014, TBLI will be expanding to four events, including TBLI CONFERENCE USA (New York), NORDIC (Oslo) and EUROPE (The Netherlands) as well as a cooperation event with Hult Business School in Boston. “We started an ambitious program of growth to further our educational outreach to asset owners and managers about ESG and Impact Investing, and continue with our mission to mobilize capital for sustainable investment. Part of this strategy is to form Academic Partnerships with leading business schools.” said Robert Rubinstein, ceo of TBLI GROUP. “At present, Hult Business School, BI Norwegian Business School and Rotterdam School of Management have agreed to host TBLI.”
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About the ESG Leaders Awards
Through the ESG Leaders Awards TBLI aims to increase ESG Leaders’ international visibility. This provides an opportunity for financial service providers to showcase their support for ESG and helps TBLI in its mission to integrate sustainable investment within the financial industry.
About TBLI CONFERENCE™
In existence for over 15 years, TBLI CONFERENCE consists of two annual conferences. These two-day events give the world’s leaders on sustainability an opportunity to network and exchange information on the latest developments in screening, auditing, reporting, SRI analysis, corporate citizenship, indexes and research.