WHEN: Today, Wednesday, September 29th
WHERE: CNBC Delivering Alpha Conference
Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Carine Smith Ihenacho, Norges Bank Investment Management Chief Corporate Governance and Compliance Officer, Wendy Cromwell, Wellington Vice Chair, and Christopher Ailman, CalSTRS Chief Investment Officer, from the CNBC Delivering Alpha Conference, which took place on Wednesday, September 29th.
Mandatory credit: CNBC Delivering Alpha Conference
WENDY CROMWELL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
We get caught up in the terminology or the nomenclature of ESG, but if you just take a big step back and you think about what are some of the big mega trends that are shaping our company’s economies and society going forward, certainly, everyone would agree that climate change is a mega trend. And that investors need to study it, and companies need to be prepared for it.
WENDY CROMWELL ON ESG METRICS
We think that it would be useful to have those rules harmonized if not exactly aligned and harmonized with rules that we see popping up in other jurisdictions so that we’re not operating in a multiple framework environment as global investors.
CHRISTOPHER AILMAN ON WHETHER THE ASSET MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY IS FOCUSED ON ESG
There’s no question there are some asset managers who are just using those words because it’s a marketing tool. There are a few asset managers who actually believe it’s material and important to their investment process. And it’s really hard because right now, a lot of surveys, check the box exercise, do you believe in ESG? Are you having ESG product? Check yes, then you go and find out that there’s very little being done in that case.
CHRISTOPHER AILMAN ON ESG DIVESTMENT
Instead of just divesting Exxon, turning our back and letting somebody else own the shares, we took on that board, we changed that board and we are really changing that company from the top down. It’s a giant company, it’s going to take a long time, but I think that’s a massive change. Divesting doesn’t reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, engagement, so I can’t emphasize enough. I wish divestment would solve the world’s problems, wouldn’t it be so easy and nice. But, you know, when it doesn’t, engagement and turning people’s attitudes, turning companies around is what’s absolutely critical now.
CHRISTOPHER AILMAN ON ESG DATA
You can look at pictures but really diversity of thought is hard to measure, but we’re actually getting statistics on some of those things through all the data services that informs us as investors and then we can evaluate portfolios, then we get to the truth about whether they’re really interacting and energetic injecting ESG into their process.
CHRISTOPHER AILMAN ON DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT IN THE BOARDROOM
You can’t be inside the boardroom. But, but trying to look at diversity and background, and, and then relationships, and really trying to analyze words, try and figure out if a board of directors is independent from the CEO and really thinking on their own, or whether they’re all held captive.
