ESG Integration in Investment Training Course

Participants can identify and prioritise financially material ESG issues for sectors and issuers.

• SASB Standards used to identify sector-specific financially material issues
• Double materiality compared with investor financial materiality assessment
• Building sector materiality maps from business models and value chains
• Issuer exposures ranked by magnitude, probability, timing and reversibility
• Management quality assessed through policies, targets, incentives and oversight
• Materiality judgements recorded in an analyst research template

Participants can evaluate ESG information sources and establish fit-for-purpose research evidence.

• ESG data taxonomy covering reported metrics, estimates, models and controversies
• Ratings-provider methodologies compared for scope, weighting and coverage differences
• Testing data quality through completeness, comparability, timeliness and assurance
• Issuer disclosures reconciled with annual reports, filings and earnings calls
• Controversy data assessed for severity, recurrence, remediation and liability
• Research audit trails maintained for source evidence and analyst judgement

Participants can assess governance quality as an investment risk and valuation driver.

• Board independence, skills and tenure assessed against issuer strategy
• Executive remuneration tested for performance metrics and risk alignment
• Related-party transactions reviewed for conflicts, transparency and minority protection
• Audit quality evaluated through auditor tenure, qualifications and control findings
• Shareholder rights compared across voting structures and capital classes
• Governance red flags incorporated into risk premia and position sizing

Participants can analyse environmental exposures and climate risks within investment research.

• GHG Protocol emissions scopes interpreted for investment-relevant carbon exposure
• Physical risks mapped across assets, suppliers, operations and insurance coverage
• Transition risks assessed through policy, technology, demand and litigation channels
• Carbon intensity metrics normalised by revenue, production and enterprise value
• Capital expenditure plans tested against decarbonisation targets and asset lives
• Biodiversity, water and pollution risks linked to sector operating economics

Participants can assess social and human-capital factors that affect issuer performance.

• Workforce metrics examined for turnover, safety, wages and productivity
• Human rights due diligence traced through suppliers and high-risk sourcing
• Product safety and customer outcomes assessed for conduct-risk exposure
• Community consent evaluated for extractives, infrastructure and land-use projects
• Data privacy controls reviewed for consumer, financial and technology businesses
• Social controversies translated into revenue, cost and reputational risk assumptions

Participants can incorporate material ESG factors into equity valuation and investment recommendations.

• Revenue assumptions adjusted for product regulation, demand shifts and licences
• Operating margins tested against energy costs, labour practices and remediation
• Capital expenditure forecasts linked to transition plans and asset replacement
• Discount-rate adjustments supported by governance, litigation and financing evidence
• Scenario-based DCF models compare base, downside and transition cases
• Investment theses state catalysts, ESG risks and disconfirming evidence

Participants can assess ESG factors within creditworthiness, bond selection and issuer monitoring.

• Credit materiality linked to default probability, recovery value and refinancing access
• Issuer cash-flow resilience tested under environmental and social risk scenarios
• Covenants reviewed for reporting obligations, use-of-proceeds and event triggers
• Green, social and sustainability bonds assessed against ICMA principles
• Sovereign ESG analysis considers institutions, social stability and resource dependence
• Credit memos document ESG drivers, mitigants and monitoring indicators

Participants can use climate scenarios to test portfolio exposures and issuer transition credibility.

• TCFD scenario analysis connects climate pathways with financial transmission channels
• NGFS scenarios interpreted for policy, energy, macroeconomic and technology assumptions
• Transition plans tested for targets, governance, capital allocation and milestones
• Stranded-asset risk estimated from asset life, utilisation and demand assumptions
• Physical-risk scenarios test location exposure, adaptation spending and insurance availability
• Scenario outputs converted into research questions, limits and engagement priorities

Participants can construct portfolio rules that meet ESG objectives while controlling investment trade-offs.

• Portfolio objectives defined through risk, return, ESG and mandate requirements
• Exclusion screens designed with thresholds, revenue tests and exception governance
• Best-in-class selection compared with benchmark-relative ESG improvement approaches
• Tracking error measured after sector, country and factor constraint changes
• Optimisation constraints tested for concentration, liquidity and unintended exposures
• Portfolio dashboards monitor carbon, controversies, ratings and engagement progress

Participants can assess whether external managers apply ESG integration as claimed.

• Due diligence questions test governance, research process and portfolio evidence
• Manager ESG policies compared with actual holdings and voting records
• Holdings-based tests identify concentration, controversies and exposure inconsistencies
• Performance attribution separates ESG tilts from sector and factor effects
• Side letters and mandates specify reporting, escalation and data requirements
• Manager scorecards document findings, conditions and review-cycle decisions

Participants can design stewardship activity linked to material investment priorities and escalation decisions.

• Stewardship objectives prioritised by materiality, ownership stake and change potential
• Engagement plans define asks, milestones, evidence and accountable issuer contacts
• Voting policies address board elections, remuneration and shareholder resolutions
• Escalation pathways include collaborative engagement, voting opposition and divestment review
• Engagement outcomes measured through commitments, actions, disclosures and performance changes
• Stewardship records prepared for clients, trustees and investment committees

Participants can interpret major sustainability disclosure references relevant to investment processes.

• ISSB IFRS S1 requirements mapped to investor decision-useful sustainability information
• IFRS S2 disclosures examined for governance, strategy, risk and metrics
• EU SFDR classifications reviewed for product disclosures and principal adverse impacts
• EU Taxonomy screening criteria interpreted for eligible and aligned activities
• GRI Standards contrasted with investor-focused disclosure frameworks and intended users
• Disclosure claims checked against portfolio methodology, evidence and reporting controls

Participants can establish ESG risk controls, escalation thresholds and governance reporting.

• ESG risk appetite translated into limits, triggers and approval thresholds
• Risk registers connect issuer exposures, controls, owners and review dates
• Key risk indicators selected for controversies, climate exposure and data gaps
• Pre-trade controls tested against exclusions, restrictions and mandate conditions
• Post-trade monitoring identifies breaches, deteriorating indicators and remediation actions
• Committee reporting presents decisions, exceptions, trends and unresolved risks

Participants can communicate ESG investment decisions clearly without unsupported claims.

• Client objectives translated into measurable ESG portfolio and stewardship commitments
• Investment committee papers structure evidence, judgement, alternatives and recommendation
• Sustainability claims tested for specificity, substantiation and material omissions
• Performance reports distinguish financial returns from ESG outcomes and indicators
• Methodology disclosures explain data sources, calculations, assumptions and limitations
• Difficult stakeholder questions handled through evidence, uncertainty and documented rationale

Participants can design an operating model for consistent ESG integration across the investment lifecycle.

• Investment lifecycle mapped from screening through monitoring, voting and reporting
• Roles assigned across analysts, portfolio managers, risk teams and committees
• Research templates standardised for materiality, evidence, valuation and monitoring fields
• Data governance defines ownership, vendor controls, quality checks and retention
• Implementation roadmaps sequence policy updates, systems changes and capability building
• Success measures track decision quality, coverage, exceptions and stewardship outcomes

Participants can build, review and present a complete ESG-integrated investment recommendation for a defined mandate.

• Select an issuer, fund or portfolio mandate with defined investment objectives
• Complete materiality assessment using sector factors, issuer evidence and data limitations
• Build valuation, credit or portfolio assumptions reflecting material ESG drivers
• Set portfolio controls, stewardship actions, monitoring indicators and escalation triggers
• Prepare investment-committee paper with recommendation, risks, alternatives and disclosures
• Present analysis for peer challenge, review findings and final recommendation revision