Back to all articles

A record New York Roundtable

Events

Last month we welcomed a record-number of attendees to our 2019 New York Roundtable. Staying true to tradition, the annual client-focused event delivered a forum for conversation and debate around today's market trends, along with a sneak-peek at our upcoming technologies.

The theme for our industry discussion this year was ESG Investment and the role it plays in the investment research market. We welcomed Jeff Cohen, an Institutional Product Strategist at the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), to present the keynote: "Defining ESG: The rising tide of responsible investing."

According to Jeff, 'research on the positive connection between performance on material ESG factors and corporate financial performance is mounting' – and thanks to Jeff's presentation, those in attendance now better understand why.

The value of ESG

To further dive into the topic, we followed Jeff's presentation with a panel discussion on The value of ESG in investment research. The six panelists were some of the industry's leading ESG thought leaders representing research providers, investors, regulators, and even data providers.

Overall, most of them agreed that the ESG trend is gaining significant momentum: "I think the sell-side would be surprised at how fast it is moving on the buy-side," noted one speaker.

A few other key themes from the Q&A conversation include:

  • ESG integration for sell-side is being driven by a convergence of factors. Monetization. Alpha Generation. Legislation. Risk Avoidance.
  • The US has a lot to learn from ESG-mature markets. "European asset managers and asset owners are very aware of ESG topics and push for new research. Europe and Canada are doing the groundwork for an inevitable wave."
  • There is potential to generate alpha from ESG Investment. "Research shows that strong ESG risk management tends to signal a strong overall management practice, and corporates with strong ESG performance tend to perform well financially."

For more information about the Roundtable and the material covered, please email us at BlueMatrixTeam@bluematrix.com.