CANDRIAM and KEDGE Business School create a research chair
dedicated to sustainable finance
In the spirit of responsible finance week(1), CANDRIAM and KEDGE Business School announced today the launch of a research chair entitled “Finance Reconsidered: Addressing Sustainable Economic Development”(2). Led by Christophe Revelli, associate professor and director of the KEDGE Business School Corporate & Sustainable Finance Master’s programme, the Chair aims to explore how sustainability and accountability issues create additional value and impact businesses and, ultimately, the economic development of society as a whole.
Naïm Abou-Jaoudé, CEO of Candriam and Chairman of New York Life Investments International, stated: “The challenges facing humankind today require immediate and significant mobilisation for the orientation of assets towards a more sustainable society. The combination of the recognized expertise of Candriam and KEDGE Business School – in terms of responsible investment and research in this area – has been developed for several decades, and is a direct response to this objective. By advancing research on the significance of the impact of investments, we want to help investors make allocation choices that support a long-term vision in line with these principles.”
José Milano, Director General of KEDGE Business School: “By combining the expertise of KEDGE faculty members and the expertise of Candriam in the field of responsible investment, the “Finance Reconsidered: Addressing Sustainable Economic Development” Chair will measure the additional value and impact for businesses generated by investments that address sustainability and accountability issues. This action in favour of the common good is one of KEDGE’s strategic pillars, which also embodies it through its learning to develop personalities and talent capable of positively transforming society and its future.”
The integration of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) indicators in risk management and asset management is becoming more systematic every day. It allows managers to better delineate companies from the point of view of their overall risk (strategic, extra-financial, economic and financial). The goal of the Chair is to understand the real impact of integrating ESG and sustainability criteria in investment decisions, and how to most effectively achieve this integration – with a materiality objective – in the management methodologies.
To fulfil this objective, the Chair will structure its actions according to the following three axes:
Axis 1: Materiality of ESG criteria in asset prices and risk management
The goal here will be to understand the impact of the integration of sustainability on asset valuation, risk management and environmental performance measures of funds, in connection with the goal of limiting global warming to 2°C, as well as for the ecosystem and society from a more global point of view.
Axis 2: The challenges of responsible and sustainable finance
The objective of this axis will be to encourage the development of research on current topics around green, sustainable and responsible finance. This research is particularly focused on new ESG impact models, the integration of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) into asset management processes, new governance models, the emergence of new tools such as green bonds and social impact bonds and their impact on emerging economies and the relevance of financial risk models in green and sustainable finance.
Axis 3: Training and education
Lastly, the chair has been given the task of raising awareness of the general public, the scientific community and companies on the issues of responsible and sustainable finance, in addition to the investors for whom it aims its research: organisation of educational actions in connection with the KEDGE Business School Sustainable Finance Master’s programme, prize for the best Master’s thesis in responsible and sustainable finance, organization of events and conferences, etc.
