Impact of biodiversity - Approaches to nature based investing

Thursday 14 March 2024 | 18:00 - 20:30 | Evening Event

This is a joint event organised by CFA UK, CAIA and AXA IM Alts

Explore nature’s role in tackling the climate crisis, protecting biodiversity and restoring the environment.

An expert panel will discuss the scale and urgency of the global risk to society, and how this is driving commitments and action from governments, regulators, consumers alike.

For investors, the great challenge of our time presents opportunities to invest in private companies delivering impactful solutions for the future of our planet as well as financial return.

At this event you will:

- Learn about generating positive, measurable social and environmental outcomes whilst delivering financial returns.
- Understand the scale and urgency of the climate crisis and how we can all contribute.
- Network with likeminded attendees from CFA UK and CAIA.

Panel moderated by Elena Koycheva, CFA, CIPM, Member of CFA UK Board and Head of ESG Client Experience at BlueBay Asset Management. 

Panellists:

Adam Gibbon, Head of Natural Capital, AXA IM Alts
Sylvaine Rols, Senior Specialist, Nature, UNPRI
Harlin Singh Urofsky, Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable Investing at Citi Global Wealth

As part of the security procedures at 22 Bishopsgate, CFA UK must provide the venue with the names and email addresses of all delegates attending the event, so that a QR code can be emailed to you, to allow you access to the venue. Please note that after the event all details held by the venue will be destroyed.

Timings

Speakers

Elena Koycheva, CAIA, CFA, CIPM, Member of CFA UK Board and Head of ESG Client Experience at BlueBay Asset Management

Elena is a member of the Global Business Development Team at BlueBay Asset Management. Elena is also the co-vice chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Forum at the firm. Prior to joining BlueBay, Elena was a member of the Lead Portfolio Management Team within the Global Portfolio Solutions Group at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where she worked on providing multi asset investment management solutions to defined benefit pension plans, and worked on global business development opportunities for institutional investors and third party distributors.

Elena started her investment management career at Candriam Investors Group (formerly Dexia Asset Management) where she acquired experience in performance analysis and business development.

Elena holds a MSc in Portfolio Management and a Master’s Degree in Corporate Finance from IAE Gustave Eiffel, University of Paris XII and a Master’s Degree in Banking, Finance and Risk Management from the University of Paris XIII and a Summa Cum Laude BA (Hons) in Business Administration: Finance, Minor in Economics from Richmond, the American International University in London. She is also a CFA charterholder, a CAIA charterholder and a CIPM designation holder. Elena also gained the Certificate in ESG Investing and holds the Diploma in Investment Management (ESG).

Elena leads the CFA UK Careers in the Investment Sector Working Group and is a member of the CFA UK Volunteering Steering Committee. She is an active member of 100 Women in Finance and Women in Banking and Finance. She was a 2018 and 2019 finalist in the “Unsung Hero” category in the Women in Investment Awards, and since 2020, she has been a Diversity Project Ambassador.

Adam Gibbon, Head of Natural Capital,  AXA IM Alts

Adam Gibbon is Natural Capital Lead in the Impact Investing team at AXA IM Alts, leading on their $500m investment strategy.

Adam has spent his career designing and implementing solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss. In 2008 he pioneered the development of the voluntary carbon market, as a developer and auditor with the Rainforest Alliance where he was also developer for climate smart forestry and agriculture projects.

As a manager at PwC, he advised corporate and government clients on climate and land use strategies and transactions.

For the last decade, he has been investing private equity and project finance into nature-based solutions to climate change, first as CTO and Investment Director at a leading investment platform before joining AXA IM Alts in 2023.

Sylvaine Rols, Senior Specialist, Nature at the UN Principles for Responsible Investment

As PRI’s Senior Specialist on Nature, Sylvaine Rols leads its portfolio of activities on nature and biodiversity, supporting investors in their efforts to integrate nature-related considerations in their decision-making.

Sylvaine has built a career driving private sector policies for risk management and positive action for nature. Prior to joining PRI, she worked at the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), leading its input to the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and to the Science- based Targets Network (SBTN) to develop ambitious corporate targets and disclosure practices for a nature-positive future.

Sylvaine has also worked on the appraisal, mitigation and monitoring of environmental impacts from development projects, collaborating with governmental institutions and private partners in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and Central America, including in her role as an environmental specialist at the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Harlin Singh Urofsky, Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable Investing at Citi Global Wealth

Harlin works across Citi’s investment divisions to develop and embed a global framework along the full spectrum of sustainability to ensure its alignment with Citi’s best thinking on portfolio management, research and asset allocation. This includes environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration, socially responsible, thematic and impact investments.

Harlin is an observing member of the Global Investment Committee and oversees Investing with Purpose, our sustainable investing platform. She is also a representative on Citi’s Net Zero Task Force, entrusted with the group’s goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

Prior to joining Citi in 2017, she served as Associate Director of innovative finance at the Milken Institute. Before that, Harlin spent over a decade as a capital markets and foreign exchange specialist, advising ultra-high net worth individuals and family offices at Deutsche Bank and Citi, having begun her career at Lehman Brothers. She also served as an adjunct professor of impact investing at USC’s Marshall School of Business.

Harlin holds an undergraduate degree in finance from Rutgers University and a master’s in public administration from New York University.