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Iclif Webinar on ESG Trends & Regulatory Developments

Jamie Allen, Secretary General and Benjamin McCarron, ACGA specialist consultant, were invited to speak in a webinar on the topic of “ESG Trends & Regulatory Developments”, hosted by the Iclif Executive Education Center at Asia School of Business in Malaysia.

Overview
The investing community all over the world are increasingly looking at the societal impact of their investments in companies as measured by environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. This is evidenced by sustainable mutual and exchange traded funds having attracted US$ 20.6 billion of total new assets in 2019 as compared to only US$ 5.5 billion achieved in the previous year. While some may argue that this is a trend seen in developed markets only, given the nature of large global fund management companies, this trend cannot be ignored and will or more accurately, has already affected Asian markets. In part, in anticipation of this growing trend as well as to speed up the push towards more responsible and sustainable investments, regulators in many parts of Asia have begun to formulate policies to promote and encourage a more ESG compliant eco-system.

Topics included:

• Why are ESG investments a growing trend? Should it be taken seriously?
• What are investors concerned about?
• What should directors look out for?
• What are the key ESG regulatory developments especially across Asia?
• How does Malaysia compare against other countries in terms of ESG regulation as well as practices?