Investors, Firms and ESG 2019 | European Corporate Governance Institute | 5 June 2019 | Saïd Business School, Park End St, Oxford OX1 1HP, UK

The role of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) considerations in the management of public companies and the investment priorities of asset managers has become a first order question in corporate governance across the developed world. In his much discussed 2018 Letter to CEOs, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink focused on it explicitly: 'Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose. To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.' With this, a new agenda and a new generation of conversations and questions around ESG were launched: What are investors looking for from firms and from funds? What are boards and companies hearing? And what is the legal context of ESG and fiduciary duty? In this conference, both investor and firm perspectives will be discussed in addressing these questions in the UK context.

2019 Speakers, Moderator and Panelists

Colin Mayer
Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies, Said Business School, University of Oxford

Vanessa Havard-Williams
Partner, Global Head of Environment, London

Chief Justice Leo E. Strine, Jr.
Chief Justice, Chancellor of the Court of Chancery

MODERATORS:

Edward Rock
Martin Lipton Professor of Law, NYU Law

John Armour
Hogan Lovells Professor of Law and Finance, University of Oxford, Faculty of Law

PANELISTS:

Allison A. Bennington
Partner & Chief Global Affairs Officer

Robert G Eccles
Visiting Professor, Management Practice

Maggie Loo
Partner

David A. Katz
Partner, Wachtell, New York City

Hans-Christoph Hirt
Head of Hermes, EOS

Sacha Sadan
Director, Corporate Governance

Richard Williams
Chief Investment Officer, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Elizabeth Corley

2019 Sponsors

• NYU Law
• The Bristish Academy
• University of Oxford
• Said Business School
• Ecgi