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07:45
08:40
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- Sustainability teams are embattled for internal relevance - how does sustainability make a comeback?
- Sustainability in the investment committee: what gets taken seriously and what doesn’t?
- What are the crucial pillars of a robust sustainability function?
- Mandates: Which department should sustainability sit under for maximum value e.g. public affairs vs compliance vs IR?
09:35
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- What is most important to allocators right now?
- How are investment committees responding to political and regulatory pressure?
- How are asset owner investors adjusting their investment strategies to meet climate risk and rapid AI disruption?
- What role are sustainability factors playing in allocation decisions?
Rajith Sebastian, Head of Private Market Strategies and Sustainable Investing, New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF)
10:15
10:45
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Short presentations: quick, insight-led snapshots of how EDCI data is being used in practice to drive measurable value across portfolios
- BCG: Update on the latest data findings
- GPs: Turning ESG data into a value creation playbook
- LPs: Using data to understand, compare, and allocate smarter
- Portfolio companies: Driving cost savings, growth, and resilience
11:20
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- What are the considerations with regards to asset-level vs portfolio-level risk?
- How is physical climate risk changing the economics of investments?
- How decision-useful is the risk data and practices currently being employed by funds?
- How are water stress, flooding, wildfire exposure being measured and tackled?
12:00
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- How are investors developing practical governance frameworks and mechanisms?
- Which areas are high-risk use cases for AI, and how are these best tackled?
- What is the role of the ESG lead in a responsible AI programme?
- Questions from LPs are coming through to ESG folks on AI – are they ready to field them?
12:35
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- How to identify where to focus sustainability efforts for better resource allocation?
- Bang for buck: Which companies and sectors benefit most from attention of a sustainability strategy?
- What is a must-do for the whole portfolio, and what sustainability levers are better for certain types of assets?
- How to identify the sustainability levers that genuinely drive portfolio performance?
13:15
14:15
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- Is physical climate risk data sufficiently accurate and actionable for investors?
- Are asset owners receiving sufficient information from managers on portfolio exposure to physical risks?
- What are the expectations and best practices around physical climate data for investors with diversified portfolios?
- Is there a way to prepare for systemic risks meaningfully?
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- What are the prominent rules and regulations coming out of different jurisdictions on AI?
- What does AI-related legal risk look like in the years to come?
- How are different jurisdictions looking at taming AI?
- What will it mean for investors?
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- How can sustainability get portcos ready for going through the exit process?
- What added value is the sustainability function particularly well positioned to deliver in the IPO process?
- Where can sustainability teams assist practically, and what are some examples?
- How are funds using data to increase the value of a company at exit?
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- What are the principles for conducting effective human rights due diligence?
- Are policies, codes of conduct, and audits sufficient to manage risks?
- What does good look like in terms of tools, data, and mechanisms?
- What are the challenges in companies with global supply chains?
14:55
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- Where is the state of play on US state vs federal regulation on sustainability related issues?
- What do the midterm elections mean for climate and energy policy?
- CSRD et al: what do US investors need to know?
- What are the most material regulatory changes in the EU and Australia for US funds?
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- How are AI and data strategies converging?
- What are the best practices in using sustainability data for asset selection and due diligence?
- How are funds refining their data approaches in terms of new technologies and resources?
- Has progress been stalled in standardised reporting?
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- How is employee ownership a unique private credit offering?
- Is ownership scaling as a trend?
- How are employee ownership transactions assessed and underwritten?
- Can investments focused on ownership scale and attract mainstream allocators?
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- Are nature and biodiversity still a priority for funds?
- Can nature strategy be a source of value, and if so, how and in what contexts?
- What are the realistic investment options today that tap into nature & biodiversity risk?
- Has progress been made on embedding nature-related considerations into investment strategy?
15:30
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- Is the AI super investment cycle likely to be a net-negative for climate mitigation efforts?
- How is Big Tech looking to offset its climate impact?
- Do 2030 net zero goals need to be scrapped entirely?
- For sustainable index providers, how does responsible AI show up in ESG ratings?
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- Part of your portfolio is at risk due to changing climate, now what?
- What metrics do you use to assess mitigation of risk?
- How do you recalculate real asset values in light of physical climate risk?
- Which sectors require most attention for adaptation or exiting?
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- How is the proliferation of AI changing cyber risk?
- Has cyber strategy undergone any change in the last 2-3 years?
- How is AI increasing risks of losing proprietary data and IP?
- Does cyber security approach differ between large and mid-to-small caps?
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- What are the key areas of engagement for investors that are looking to address inequality?
- How are funds engaging with worker rights and issues in portcos (such as living wage, freedom of association, worker seats on boards)?
- What are the notable models and theories of change that can create real world outcomes?
- How are AI developments likely to impact societal inequality?
16:40
17:00
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- What dilemmas persist regarding defence’s role in sustainable investing?
- Are PE firms incorporating defence into their investment frameworks?
- What principles are helping investors know where their line is on what they can invest in?
- How far up and down your capital supply stack does responsibility extend? where does your responsibility as an investor lie?
17:45
18:45
09:10
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- Where do we stand in the SFDR 2.0 process?
- Which SFDR 2.0 changes will be most relevant for US funds?
- Will SFDR 2.0's impact differ between retail and institutional strategies?
- What are the perspectives of GPs and LPs on the broader regulatory landscape?
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- What does sustainability value look like in credit strategies?
- How are private credit managers using sustainability data to identify portfolio risk?
- How are credit managers thinking about new systemic risks on the horizon (AI, physical risk, supply chain disruption)?
- How is physical climate risk data being used within private credit?
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- What’s most investable currently in the energy infra?
- How are corporates solving their own energy security, and what’s the opportunity for investors?
- What is happening in the frontier niches such as small nuclear, grid-tech, geothermal?
- How is energy demand going to change in the next 5 years, given the projected AI growth?
09:55
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In this off-the-record session, we hear case studies from funds discussing the good, the bad and the ugly of their sustainability initiatives at portfolio companies.
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- Where do allocators still see sustainability creating value?
- How are LP priorities evolving as market conditions change?
- What financial and non-financial risks are LPs most concerned with when it comes to private credit?
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- What can be done to reduce externalities of AI infrastructure?
- Data centres have vast energy and water needs – are there plausible sustainable solutions?
- What are the green investment opportunities in AI data centres’ value chains?
10:30
11:00
11:30
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- Have net zero commitments gone into the memory hole?
- Life after the alliances, what meaningful climate and decarbonisation efforts remain in the US?
- How are LPs setting their climate ambitions now?
- How to talk about emissions in a polarised social and political landscape?
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- How are the Big Tech companies defining and executing their sustainability programs?
- LPs vs Big Tech - who will be the more influential stakeholder for private market funds’ success?
- What are the opportunities for private market actors?
- How significant are offset strategies in moving the economics of the carbon credit market?
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- How is data centre resistance being managed and addressed?
- What gives a project social licence?
- How are investors factoring in the substantial pushback to data centre projects?
- What lessons can be learned from the mining sector in working with communities?
12:20
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- How is sustainability progressing within the secondaries market?
- What value does sustainability provide in the secondaries market to buyers?
- What are the best practices in ESG due diligence in secondaries?
- How are sustainability factors being assessed and priced in GP-led and LP-led secondaries transactions?
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- Which sectors and industries are most disrupted – and thereby need most support?
- What changes inside portfolio companies when AI is deployed properly?
- How can AI initiatives be streamlined by funds?
- What has worked well in deploying AI and resulted in material performance?
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- How significant of an issue is water scarcity?
- How are funds looking at this systemic risk for their portfolio?
- Which sectors and asset types are most likely to be affected?
13:00
14:20
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- How are insurers viewing the world in terms of key macro trends and systemic risks?
- Which assets are becoming uninsurable?
- What are the most material issues for insurers?
- Which climate scenarios do they use today, given that they have to put a price on long-term climate-related policy claims?
15:00
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- What economic dependencies and disruptions are being created by the AI industry?
- What are the choke points in the physical infrastructure and the supply chain for AI (minerals, talent, metals, software and hardware) – and the implications for resource competition?
- How is geopolitics of AI playing out (US, China, Europe and the rest of the world)?
- Can the vast productivity gains from AI be democratised, or is the world set for ‘AI feudalism’?
15:45