Foundations in RI
Focused on identifying and incorporating ESG factors in investment decision making, this course is recognised as the international gold standard for ESG training.
Foundations in Responsible Investment
Foundations in Responsible Investment is recognised as the international “gold standard for ESG training”. It was developed as the PRI Academy’s foundational course, focusing on the identification and implementation of ESG factors into investment decision making. The course, which takes 12 - 14 hours to complete, explores the key principles of responsible investment, uses real-life case studies to illustrate the materiality of ESG issues in business, introduces strategies for identifying and managing new approaches to ESG risk, and identifies methods for integrating sustainability data into financial modelling.
Certification
After successful completion of the course, the user will be awarded a certificate of completion.
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Course Outline
INTRODUCTION TO RI
- Define responsible investment
- Describe E, S and G issues
- Recognise how ESG issues are related to sustainability trends and themes
- Demonstrate how ESG issues create both risks and opportunities for investors
- Identify a process for incorporating analysis of ESG issues into investment decisions
RI AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
- Understand how ESG information complements traditional financial analysis
- Identify different types of ESG information relevant to financial analysis
- Understand elements of ESG analysis
- Recognise the role of ‘materiality’ when analysing ESG factors
- Apply techniques for qualification and quantification of ESG factors
- Integrate ESG data into basic financial models
RI AND THE ENVIRONMENT
- Define key environmental issues
- Understand the relationship between business activities and ecosystem services
- Identify key environmental ‘megatrends’
- Identify approaches to environmental analysis at a country, sector and company level
- Understand how to incorporate environmental issues into financial models and ratio work
RI AND SOCIETY
- Identify key societal issues
- Outline the relationship between social issues, companies and investors
- Assess the investment implications of societal issues
- Understand how to apply techniques to incorporate social issues into financial models and ratio work
RI AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
- Describe corporate governance
- Understand why corporate governance is important to investors
- Understand the role of people, tools and processes that constitute corporate governance
- Recognise best practice in corporate governance
- Understand how to incorporate corporate governance issues into financial models and ratio work
RI AND ACTIVE OWNERSHIP
- Identify the elements and designing an engagement policy
- Determining engagement priorities
- Recognise the different models for, and approaches to, engagement
- Developing an engagement plan
- Explain how the outcomes of engagement activities impact investment decisions
IMPLEMENTING A RI PROGRAMME
- Develop a plan for implementing a responsible investment programme that meets the requirements of the PRI within your organisation
- Identify the key people, processes and tools related to responsible investment
- Identify the key areas and elements that could be considered when implementing responsible investment
- Identify the information you need for internal and external reporting on your responsible investment activities
CASE STUDIES
- When enrolling into Foundations in RI users benefit from receiving all three case studies.
- An Environmental case study: BP
- Social case study: Facebook
- Governance case study: Volkswagen
This PRI course should become the standardised norm in the wealth management industry. A perfect introduction to responsible investing for all, concise and informative. ESG integration is not only beneficial for clients’ long-term investments, but I believe it will eventually become a regulatory requirement.
I'd recommend this informative e-learning to anyone that wants to learn the essentials of ESG and RI. The learning is also suitable for more experienced practitioners looking for a refresher on the topic. The self-learning schedule offers the flexibility to study at your own leisure.
Hong Kong
A fantastic course with plenty of food for thought, suggested starting points and action plans for a hedge fund asset management firm that works hard to foster transparency about our activities in the space.