Joining Forces And Connecting Dots For Impact Investing And ESG At TBLI CONFERENCE USA 2014

Jay OwenSRI/ESG News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Joining Forces And Connecting Dots For Impact Investing And ESG At TBLI CONFERENCE USA 2014

Amsterdam, 19 June 2014 TBLI CONFERENCE™, dedicated to building a community of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and impact investors, held its second USA conference on 29 and 30 May in New York. The event, hosted by Credit Suisse, succeeded in bringing together a diverse, international crowd of asset owners and managers, service providers and social entrepreneurs, covering all current aspects in the impact investing space. Speakers and attendees encouraged a lively, inspirational discussion and connected the dots between their businesses.

 Traditionally Robert Rubinstein, CEO of TBLI GROUP™, opened the conference with Dr. Phillip Vasan, Head of Private Banking for the Americas of Credit Suisse. “We are privileged to be able to host TBLI CONFERENCE this year. It fits with things that we care about as an institution across ESG and Impact Investing.” says Vasan. “The key is to extrapolate and identify trends that are actionable and that is very hard. The ESG and Impact Investing field is very broad. We are looking at it across from sustainable food production, sustainable sourcing, global health and fuel free energy. You are connecting the dots.”

 The opening was followed by two keynotes by Erika Karp, Founder and CEO of Cornerstone Capital Inc. and Hendrik Jordaan, President and CEO of One Thousand & One Voices, as well as two Roundtable sessions with various panelists. “The quality of the keynote sessions and workshops was exceptional. Speakers and participants brought great insights and experience on impact investing and ESG.” says Andrew Ausili, Director Public Policy and Sustainability Affairs Americas of Credit Suisse. “The knowledge and expertise was clearly on display and allowed for informative and vibrant discussions.”

 The morning of the first conference day, filled with five plenary sessions, fuelled the discussions throughout the remainder of both days. Niel Golightly, VP External Affairs of Shell Oil, who took part in the Roundtable about bridging the investment gaps of urban infrastructure with sustainable finance, expresses: “This conference was additional proof for me that creative, open-minded and visionary investors are helping ensure that the capitalist engine continues to be one of the best ways to tackle society’s evolving challenges. I came away inspired, and I look forward to the next conference.”

Taking inspiration from the debate during the morning’s opening plenary sessions, attendees and speakers continued a lively discussion in the workshops offered on the first and second conference day. With 16 sessions addressing a broad range of ESG and Impact Investing topics as well as three sector specific sessions on energy, health care finance and sustainable urban infrastructure development, there was ample opportunity for attendees to share expertise and vision and to learn more about the case studies and social businesses presented. “The panels were lively, informative, and expertly moderated.” confirms Evan Harvey who is the Managing Director of Corporate Sustainability at NASDAQ OMX. “As a sustainably practitioner and advocate, TBLI CONFERENCE is one of the events that returns real value”, says Harvey.

The next TBLI CONFERENCE is scheduled on 10 and 11 September in Oslo, Norway. This is the debut of TBLI CONFERENCE™ NORDIC 2014 and will be organised in collaboration with BI Norwegian Business School. This is also the first of a planned series of conferences in collaboration with new established Academic Partners. On 28 and 29 October, TBLI CONFERENCE EUROPE 2014, in collaboration with VU, returns to Amsterdam and closing the 2014 conference series is TBLI CONFERENCE @HULT on 17 November at Hult International Business School in Boston, USA.