Foundations in RI
Focused on identifying and incorporating ESG factors in investment decision making, this course is our flagship training programme for responsible investment practitioners.
Foundations in Responsible Investment
Foundations in Responsible Investment is our flagship training programme, providing a comprehensive examination of responsible investment from theory to practice. The course trains investment professionals to identify and analyse material environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to integrate sustainability data into financial modelling and existing investment processes.
Certification
After successful completion of the course, the user will be awarded a certificate of completion.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course you will be able to:
- Define responsible investment
- Recognise material ESG issues, trends and themes and how these fit into models and ratio work
- Compare traditional analysis versus ESG analysis and how this relates to investment decision making
- Understand practical approaches for ESG analysis at global, regional, industry and company level
- Identify corporate governance processes, best practice, key standards, frameworks and stakeholders
- Identify key considerations to implement a successful company-wide responsible investment programme
- Integrate ESG data in financial modelling and assess ESG performance.
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.