Fossil fuel company investment – engage or divest?

Thursday 29 February 2024 | 18:30 - 20:30 | Evening Event

This event has been organsied by CFA UK's Energy Transition Special Interest Group and Sustainability Community 

Join us for a lively debate with two sides battling it out over engagement vs divestment from fossil fuels. In the red corner we have Craig Bonthron a Fund Manager at Artemis supporting the divestment approach. In the blue corner we have Portfolio Manager and Partner at Redwheel John Teahan, with a fossil fuel engagement approach. 

Fossil fuel investment is a contentious subject. This event will explore the pros and cons of investment in fossil fuel companies in a dispassionate way, concentrating on the investment philosophy behind two diametrically opposite approaches.

Learning objectives

Timings

Speakers

John Teahan, CFA, Portfolio Manager and Partner, Redwheel

John Teahan is a Portfolio Manager and Partner with Redwheel, managing equity funds with a ‘value’ investment style including the Redwheel UK Climate Engagement strategy.

He also leads on sustainability research and engagement with portfolio companies for the Redwheel Equity Income & Value Team. Previously he worked at Schroders where he co-managed a number of UK, global and European equity income funds.

John started his career in 2000 with Bank of Ireland Asset Management. He is a CFA Charterholder and a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. John currently hosts the CFA UK Climate Change Podcast Series.

Craig Bonthron, Fund Manager, Artemis

Craig Bonthron is part of Artemis’ impact equities team and co-manages the Artemis positive future fund. Craig has specialised in global equity impact investing since 2008 and joined Artemis in 2020 from Kames Capital, where he co-managed significant assets, including the Kames global sustainable equity fund. 

The Artemis Positive Future fund is focused on capturing investment alpha by investing in innovative and disruptive companies which have a positive impact on the world.

Adam Forsyth, Head of Research, Longspur Capital

Adam Forsyth is a clean energy investment analyst. He is Head of Research at Longspur Capital and Head of Longspur Capital Markets. An engineering graduate and MBA, Adam worked for an environmental charity before becoming joint head of pan-European utilities research at JPMorgan.

Adam has been top ranked in the Starmine and Extel/I.I. Awards and formed Longspur Research in 2019. He recently chaired the CFA Climate Change Disclosure Working Group and co-founded the Active Net Zero Clean Energy investment index.