Real Life ESG Engagement Journey – Value, Process and Solutions

The participants of the session will hear first-hand of the engagement journey of an automobile leader and learn how Federated Hermes investment teams use this engagement intelligence to enhance their investment decisions and, ultimately, pursue better outcomes for investors.

The EOS team members at Federated Hermes are subject matter experts on topics such as climate change, human capital management, sustainable supply chains, and corporate governance. They seek to both drive positive change and mitigate risk through the corporate board and executive-level interactions.

ESG is another lens to look through to ensure sound risk mitigation. Attendees can develop fluency and comfort with ESG by participating in this conversation. Education on all aspects of ESG can help when reviewing a company’s policies, potentially have a positive financial impact on the bottom line, as well as improve employee relations.

There are four steps to making positive changes in ESG behaviors:

• 1) identification of material issues through a deep dive analysis of the company’s ESG practices,
• 2) company acknowledgment that changes needed to be made
• 3) development of an objectives-driven path to change and
• 4) change is implemented.

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to share this knowledge with their board and senior management to accelerate discussions on beneficial change relating to risk management, governance, sustainability, and business strategy.

NeuGroup formed the ESG Working Group in 2020 as a result of requests from members and the multiple ESG discussions appearing in individual peer group meetings. These more informal working sessions provide an opportunity for interested members to share experiences on common topics, document best practices and welcome outside experts to speak on current trends – including companies that are not yet NeuGroup members. The ESG group will also coordinate with virtual interactive sessions on similar topics, and is expected to include discussions on Green Bonds, ESG Risk ratings, sustainability KPIs, compliance, and ESG returns among others.

Virtual interactive sessions (VIS) are meant for any interested participants across the NeuGroup network and approved non-NeuGroup members. They are usually one-off sessions on topics that interest the broader NeuGroup network and can develop into working groups to continue the conversation further. NeuGroup has conducted dozens of these sessions since their origination in response to Covid-19 in 2020.