ESG Disclosure: Market Trends and Strategic Opportunities

Mike’s 20-years of international experience in the sustainability field provides BrownFlynn clients and strategic partners with a global view of the sustainability landscape. Having given expert testimony to the European Commission, U.S. SEC and EPA, as well as having presented on the topic of sustainability at an array of executive level meetings and conferences, Mike’s expertise in the field is highly regarded and valued by a wide range of colleagues and organizations. He has chaired (or chairs) some of the fields leading expert working groups and is an active member of business and non-profit committees.

Robert joined RobecoSAM in February 2014 as Senior Manager in the Sustainability Services Business. Before joining RobecoSAM, Robert worked in different roles in climate change and sustainability, including Vice President, Global Head Climate Change Service at technical verification and inspection firm SGS, Deputy to the CEO of the International Emissions Trading Association, Consultant to the World Bank as Conference Director for Carbon Expo. Robert is a regular speaker and chair at workshops, webinars and international conferences. He holds a Master in Economics from the University of Konstanz, Germany and has published articles in peer reviewed journals and contributed chapters to different books on among others carbon markets and climate change regulation.

Lee leads a dynamic group of individuals covering a 2.5 million square mile territory, and is responsible for managing the Bloomberg Terminal business for Buy-Side clients in the western United States and Canada. Leveraging 17 years of capital markets experience in hedge funds, Investment Advisory and Family Office services, Lee is ideally situated to help Bloomberg clients uncover the full potential of their Bloomberg relationship.

Specializing across equity fundamentals, environmental social governance (ESG) data, portfolio and risk analytics, and earnings & idea generation tools, Lee calibrates quickly to client needs and styles, translates their most pressing concerns, and delivers meaningful support.  With a focus on Family Offices and Socially Responsible Investment, Lee’s clients also include Institutional Investors, Investment Advisors, Hedge Funds, Private Equity and Public Pensions.

Verity is an ESG Strategist within the BlackRock Investment Stewardship group where is responsible for global research of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) trends and their implications for investment. Her work informs Stewardship’s corporate engagement program where she also works with portfolio managers to integrate ESG factors into investment decision-making within BlackRock’s active investment strategies. Verity began her investment career in 2003 at a small cap investment advisor and joined the US Large Cap Portfolio Management team at RCM in 2006. After their acquisition Verity worked at Allianz Global Investors as an ESG analyst where she was responsible for research and ratings of companies in the global healthcare and global technology sectors.

Ms. Chegar is a member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), an independent standards-setting organization dedicated to enhancing the efficiency of the capital markets by fostering high-quality disclosure of material sustainability information that meets investor needs.

Diane is Vice President, Chief Responsibility Officer at Edwards Lifesciences LLC  where she has responsibility for the Company’s global Ethics and Compliance program, Global Information Security, and Corporate Sustainability, including development of the Company’s policies and procedures and sustainability reporting. In 2013, she received the PricewaterhouseCoopers Award for Leadership in the Advancement of Ethics in the Medical Device Industry. Prior to joining Edwards Diane served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. a firm acquired by  Abbott Laboratories where she served as Divisional Vice President, Legal. Diane received her J.D. from Cornell Law School and is a certified public accountant.

Douglas is Vice President, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Philanthropy at Visa Inc. In this role, he oversees the company’s corporate responsibility strategy, reporting and communications, in collaboration with internal stakeholders. He co-chairs the company’s cross-function Corporate Responsibility working group, leads the environmental sustainability strategy and audit, and oversees the reporting process, including shareholder and stakeholder engagement, awards and rankings, and the company’s CSR report and communications.