Sustainable finance has gained considerable traction in recent years. It has become one of the major mega trends in the financial industry. It is already influencing capital allocations globally, such as commitments from institutional investors to divest from fossil fuel companies and other “sin” sectors; ESG funds attracting record inflows in 2020; the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager writing a public letter to the business community stressing the potential financial impact of climate risk; and the European Union making moves to regulate the definition of sustainable financial products.

This future-focused event series featured three one-hour sessions, providing an in-depth look into some of the most important emerging themes that are shaping the transition to sustainable financial markets.

• Sustainable Investing Trends in 2021

• Nature-Based Infrastructure as an Asset Class

• Gender Lens Investing

Session 3: Gender Lens Investing

Sustainable investing has experienced impressive growth in recent years, reaching USD 30.7 trillion in assets under management in developed countries alone. At the same time, only a fraction of this amount, USD 7.7 billion, has gone into gender lens investing, a growing segment of sustainable investing that focuses on advancing gender equality. Achieving gender equality is essential for a prosperous and sustainable world, as it affects all aspects of sustainable development. In addition, gender diversity has a positive impact on financial performance. Companies with a gender-diverse workforce are likely to outperform their peers and increase their market valuations.

The session aims to answer the following questions:

• What is the business case for gender lens investing?

• What are the latest developments in the space?

• What is needed to scale up gender financing?

• How can we integrate gender considerations into all new sustainable finance instruments?

• How could a second generation of gender bonds look like?

Speakers

• Suzanne Biegel, Founder, Catalyst at Large

• Frederic Pinglot, Group Sustainability Performance Director, Schneider Electric

• Tim Radjy, Founder and Managing Partner, AlphaMundi Group

• David Uzsoki, Sustainable Finance Lead and Senior Advisor, IISD