Sustainable Investment Training Course

Participants can interpret major sustainable finance standards and map their implications for investment products.

• IFRS S1 and S2 disclosure requirements for investor decision-useful information
• TCFD governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets structure
• SFDR Articles 6, 8 and 9 product classification boundaries
• EU Taxonomy substantial-contribution, do-no-significant-harm and minimum-safeguard tests
• PAI indicators interpreted alongside entity and product disclosures
• Green bond standards compared: ICMA principles and EU Green Bond Standard
• Regulatory mapping for client mandates, jurisdictions and distribution restrictions

Participants can produce an evidence-based ESG assessment of an issuer.

• Materiality matrices built from sector exposures and stakeholder evidence
• SASB industry standards used to select financially material indicators
• Company ESG scorecards weighted by materiality, data quality and trend
• Controversy analysis separating isolated incidents from systemic conduct failures
• Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions assessed with boundary checks
• Human-rights due diligence indicators assessed through UN Guiding Principles
• Research notes documenting assumptions, sources, confidence levels and engagement triggers

Participants can incorporate material sustainability factors into valuation and investment recommendations.

• ESG-adjusted revenue assumptions linked to regulation, demand and pricing
• Scenario analysis translating carbon prices into margin and cash-flow effects
• Cost of capital adjustments tested against evidence and valuation discipline
• Discounted cash flow sensitivities for transition, physical and litigation risks
• Quality-of-earnings review identifies sustainability-related provisions and contingent liabilities
• Relative valuation incorporates material ESG drivers without double counting
• Investment memoranda document thesis, ESG evidence, risks and decision conditions

Participants can translate sustainability objectives into portfolio rules, metrics and mandate provisions.

• Exclusion policies define thresholds, revenue tests and issuer treatment
• Best-in-class selection ranks issuers within comparable peer groups
• Portfolio carbon metrics: financed emissions, WACI and carbon footprint
• Optimisation constraints balance tracking error, concentration, liquidity and ESG targets
• Paris-alignment assessment uses implied temperature rise and transition-pathway metrics
• Factor exposures checked before attributing returns to ESG signals
• Mandate guidelines codify benchmarks, restrictions, data sources and review dates

Participants can assess sustainability characteristics and risks in debt and private-market investments.

• Use-of-proceeds bonds assessed against ICMA Green Bond Principles
• Sustainability-linked bond KPIs tested for materiality, ambition and penalties
• Second-party opinions evaluated for scope, methodology and conflicts
• Greenium analysis separates liquidity, credit quality and demand effects
• Project eligibility and allocation reports checked against bond documentation
• Sovereign sustainability analysis covers climate exposure, institutions and social indicators
• Private-market due diligence addresses covenants, governance rights and exit risks

Participants can assess impact claims and define credible impact measurement arrangements.

• Theory of change links capital inputs, outputs, outcomes and impacts
• Impact management uses the IMP five dimensions
• Additionality tested against counterfactual finance, operational change and market effects
• IRIS+ metrics selected for comparability, decision usefulness and data burden
• SDG alignment mapped without treating contribution claims as impact proof
• Impact targets specify baselines, timeframes, ownership and verification methods
• Outcome reporting distinguishes attribution, contribution and beneficiary reach

Participants can develop a stewardship approach with clear engagement and escalation decisions.

• Stewardship policies define objectives, escalation routes and voting accountability
• Engagement plans set milestones, issuer asks and evidence thresholds
• Proxy voting analysis addresses climate plans, pay and board independence
• Collaborative engagement assessed for competition law and insider-information controls
• Escalation options include voting against directors, filing resolutions and divestment
• Engagement records connect activities to portfolio decisions and reported outcomes
• Stewardship Code principles applied to governance, conflicts and reporting

Participants can identify sustainability-related investment risks and establish appropriate control measures.

• Greenwashing red flags tested against product claims, holdings and evidence
• Climate scenario analysis covers orderly, disorderly and failed-transition pathways
• Physical risk mapping considers hazard, exposure, vulnerability and adaptation
• ESG ratings divergence analysed before relying on third-party scores
• Model-risk controls document inputs, overrides, validation and limitations
• Marketing review distinguishes binding investment criteria from aspirational statements
• Due diligence checklists test governance, data lineage and claim substantiation

Participants can communicate sustainable investment results and prioritise improvements to their investment process.

• Client reporting reconciles sustainability objectives, holdings, indicators and outcomes
• Performance attribution separates market, factor, sector and implementation effects
• ESG contribution analysis avoids causal claims unsupported by methodology
• Dashboard design specifies audiences, frequencies, thresholds and data owners
• Investment committee papers present trade-offs, uncertainties and recommendation rationale
• Application plans prioritise mandate changes, research upgrades and governance actions
• Personal accountability commitments assign owners, milestones and review dates

You should understand basic investment, finance or treasury concepts such as risk, return, asset classes and financial statements. Prior ESG qualifications are not required because the course introduces the principal standards, metrics and investment approaches before applying them.

Bring a laptop or tablet if possible, as you may wish to retain and adapt the course templates. You may also bring an anonymised investment policy, mandate, reporting pack or issuer research example relevant to your role.

The course is designed for investment, treasury, risk, finance and sustainability professionals with responsibility for investment decisions, funding, analysis, reporting or governance. It is particularly relevant to professionals working for asset owners, banks, corporates, insurers, pension funds and development institutions.

This programme concentrates on investment decisions rather than corporate sustainability management. It covers valuation, portfolio construction, bond analysis, stewardship, mandate design, reporting and the controls needed to support investment claims.

Participants can use the research scorecard, due-diligence checklists, stewardship plan and reporting specification in existing investment processes. The application plan helps identify immediate changes to mandates, research standards, investment committee papers or client reporting.

The course runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between instructor briefings, case analysis, group exercises, simulations, discussion and application planning across ten connected modules.