The Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, along with partners Invesco and the Georgia Tech Financial Services Innovation Lab, hosted the annual Fall Conference of the Journal of Investment Management (JOIM) on October 12 to 14. The theme of the conference was “Climate Change: Investment Management Implications” and included an illustrious lineup of experts from academia and the investment industry discussing how climate change affects the investment industry.
The purpose of the JOIM Conference is to provide a platform for interactive discussions of current topics in the investment management arena. This year’s conference offered an in-depth dive into the influence of climate change in the investment arena.
Some of the topics covered included a review of how the largest pension firm in the world is looking at climate change, a perspective from one of the authors on the UN Report on Climate Change, and the use of quantitative analytics as part of analyzing and managing climate change. Some of the sessions included strategies for fulfilling climate change mandates and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing.
This year’s conference included esteemed speakers such as Robert Engle, recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Economics; Kim Cobb, Georgia Tech professor in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences; Sudheer Chava, Georgia Tech Scheller professor, director of the Quantitative & Computational Finance (QCF) Program and lead professor of the Financial Services Innovation Lab. Other notable speakers and panelists hailed from the Yale School of Management, the MIT Sloan School of Management, Invesco, Kepos capital, and the Sustainability Standards Board (SASB), among others.
Responsible and sustainable finance is a major focus of the Financial Services Innovation Lab, which is in alignment with the College’s objective to address climate change and support business sustainability practices through research and partnerships.
Next year’s conference is planned as an in-person event. The conference is open to risk and portfolio managers, pension managers, plan sponsors, endowments, senior executives of financial firms, and academics.