Luxembourg's fund labelling agency LuxFLAG is lunching its first Sustainable Investment Week event 22-24 October to highlight multiple facets of sustinable investing, including insights from both asset managers and professional services firms.
The event constitutes a series of presentations hosted by Arendt & Medernach, Fidelity International, PwC, Degroof Petercam, Union Investment, Deloitte, Candriam, Farad Group, State Street, Linklaters, BGL BNP Paribas, ABBl, ING LPEA, LIST, LuxSE and LuxFLAG - at venues across Luxembourg, including the City, Kirshberg and Cloche d'Or.
Sachin Vankalas (pictured), managing director of LuxFLAG has outlined the involvement of the organisation in an interview with InvestmentEurope, in its capacity as a media partner.
Can you explain the reasoning behind the event and how it fits into the ongoing objectives of LuxFLAG?
"The main mission of LuxFLAG is to promote Sustainable Finance."
"This is executed in two different manners. Firstly, LuxFLAG supports the financing of sustainable development by providing clarity for investors through awarding Labels to sustainable investment products which meet specific published criteria. Secondly, LuxFLAG facilitates dialogue, shares expertise and raises awareness on sustainable finance through its membership network."
"This leads us to the objective of the LuxFLAG Sustainable Investment Week; LuxFLAG being a key European actor in promoting Sustainable Finance, launched the idea of #LSIW, to provide a platform to our members to showcase their commitment and concrete actions in advancing Sustainable Finance."
The agenda involves companies active at different points in the asset management value chain; how important is it that, for example, auditing and legal firms are also involved in this type of event, in addition to asset managers?
"There is an urgent need of mobilising private capital to achieve sustainable development goals. This can be done only through participation of variety of actors active in the value chain of financial services. Luxembourg being the largest fund centre in Europe, there is great number of actors ranging from asset managers to auditing and legal firms, which play important roles in tackling certain specific topics regarding Sustainable Finance. Consequently, we strongly believe by gathering all these actors under one common framework, the attendees of #LSIW19 will benefit in many different ways."
How does the event fit into the broader developments in Luxembourg as a fund centre, in terms of it being a hub for sustainable investments?
"Luxembourg has clearly demonstrated concrete actions in order to achieve its ambition to become the European centre of excellence in sustainable finance. LuxFLAG being the reference agency for sustainable finance activities in Luxembourg, we see a great opportunity to gather our members and share knowledge in relation to sustainable investments through #LSIW19."
What are the potential benefits to financial professionals attending the event, and what are you hoping they come away with at the end of the week?
"One of the main benefits to financial professionals attending the event series, is not only being able to share what they do in sustainable finance but also gain knowledge. This benefit is aligned with the main objective of the creation of #LSIW19. As a whole, the financial sector will benefit greatly from this event, as there will be a wide range of expertise shared by many different actors in Luxembourg. The sessions will cover topics from SDG Investing to ESG Reporting. Another important point to mention is that this event series is open for everyone from the public to attend, as there will be topics covered such as Education in Sustainable Finance."
Will this act as a model for future similar events, either in Luxembourg or elsewhere in Europe?
"As this is the first edition of #LSIW19, we are well aware that there will be learning experiences that go hand in hand with organising such an event. LuxFLAG very much intends to organise this event annually."
Full details on the events occurring through the week can be found at https://www.lsiw19.luxflagevents.lu/
