Semester 1, AY 2023-2024

What an exciting journey we had in Semester I of the Academic Year 2023 – 2024! SGFIN is proud to have continued the Industry Talks series, where thought leaders discussed their unique insights on sustainability and green finance with our Research Team and the new batch of MSc SGF students.

We opened this Semester’s series by welcoming back Ms. Herry Cho, MD and Group Head of Sustainability & Sustainable Finance at SGX Group (Singapore Exchange), who talked about the role SGX Group takes in supporting the green and sustainable finance ecosystem as a company, business and regulator. Our students were introduced to the exciting work SGX is doing with MSCI on Climate Action Indexes, and the latest trends and developments in sustainability reporting for both listed and private companies in Singapore. They also learned about the approach SGX is taking to help investors allocate capital towards portfolios with material emission reduction efforts, and the ways in which SGX is enhancing its own suite of sustainability products by launching innovative commodity derivatives such as the EF metal futures.

This session set the stage to further think about industry-specific challenges and opportunities, beginning with the built environment. An insightful case study was our very own SDE4 building in the NUS Campus - a sustainable building which is now net positive energy, due to its extensive use of photovoltaic panels and energy-efficient design. Alakesh Dutta from the NUS Department of Architecture offered insights on the hybrid ventilation systems and other optimizations that can be done to keep within both cost and energy budgets, such as studying the microclimate and harnessing the prevailing wind flows. Bringing together diverse skillsets and expertise into the team has emerged as crucial to the success of such high-performance projects.

Shifting the angle to the banking industry, Ar. Benjamin Towell, Executive Director at OCBC, walked our students through the significant role financial institutions play in aligning capital flows with the mitigation and adaption efforts their clients were undertaking, with a key focus on how finance can facilitate moving economic activities towards a “greener” state. Our students learned about OCBC’s coordinated approach in supporting the transition of SMEs, in addition to large corporate clients, as well as the bank’s decarbonization efforts specifically for the real estate portfolio. Benjamin also shared his view on 1.5C Net Zero pathways, limitations of tools such as CRREM, and real applications of decarbonization strategies.

Next, we delved into the approach that private investment funds are taking to ESG considerations, as Mr. Sean Jutahkiti, Head of Asia Credit Research at Neuberger Berman, introduced our audience to Neuberger Berman’s commitment to ESG investing across major asset classes. Mr. Jutahkiti highlighted the importance of incorporating sustainability considerations in investment decisions, with a critical focus on material ESG factors. His sharing has enriched the students’ understanding of sustainable finance, emphasizing the collaborative effort needed to move the industry forward and build a more responsible financial landscape.

To explore the space of financial intelligence solutions, we hosted Rohini Samtani, Business Development Manager (Climate Risk) at S&P Global, and Suresh Sivanandam, Sales Director (Energy Transition) at S&P Global Platts. Rohini’s presentation showcased the common challenges associated with conducting climate risk assessments, and explained how S&P Global has been assisting banks and other clients in modelling the financial impact of climate shocks on their portfolios. She showed the variations in physical risk exposure across different geographic locations, and introduced the S&P methodology for assessing transition risks. This included the company-level earnings exposure to different carbon costing scenarios, the prospect of individual firms’ alignment with the 2-degree goal of the Paris Agreement, and the progress on their Net Zero Commitments. Suresh’s talk focused on the significance of carbon pricing in the pursuit of net-zero targets. He provided an overview of the rising global adoption of compliance carbon pricing, the mechanics of voluntary carbon markets, and S&P Global’ s role in standardizing carbon emissions data, which enables meaningful assessments of firms’ environmental performance.

Later on in the semester, Mr Helge Muenkel, CFA, Group Chief Sustainability Officer at DBS Bank, introduced the sustainability landscape at DBS, including the banks’ overarching sustainability strategy and goals, and the practical challenges in the complex sustainability ecosystem. The presentation was followed by a highly engaging discussion with the audience around the phasing out of coal power plants and the complexity of balancing different interests from various stakeholders such as lenders, borrowers, and different types of clean energy suppliers.

As a result of the Industry Talks series, our MSc SGF students and SGFIN researchers have deepened their understanding of the key sustainability challenges in the financial sector – and we look forward to continuing our series in the new semester next year.