Centennial Speaker Series: Terrence Keeley on Sustainable: Moving Beyond ESG to Impact Investing

The global economy is at a crossroads. Can finance fix it? Proponents of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing say yes. They claim that new financial strategies that consider all stakeholders are essential tools for addressing runaway carbon emissions and stark income inequality, among other ills. ESG-integrated investments already encompass more than $120 trillion in financial assets. Is this approach really leading to better social and environmental outcomes for all? If not, how can it be improved?

In Sustainable, a finance industry veteran offers an insider’s look at the promises, prospects, and limitations of ESG investing and provides comprehensive solutions that would promote more optimal outcomes. Terrence Keeley argues that both activist and C-suite advocates have been overly optimistic about what ESG can accomplish. Divestment threats are ineffective tools for altering corporate behavior, and verifiably “good” companies do not systematically generate great returns. Most importantly, business and finance cannot achieve inclusive, sustainable growth on their own: Regulators, public policies, civil society, and individuals must all play specific, complementary roles to shape the future we need.

Agenda
12 p.m.: Welcome Remarks: James Kelly, director, Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis

12:03 p.m.: Speaker Introduction: David Cowen, president and CEO, Museum of American Finance

12:08: p.m.: Presentation: Terrence Keeley

12:45 p.m.: Audience Q&A

1 p.m.: Closing Remarks: David Cowen

About the Author
Terrence Keeley has been an adviser to the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, national pension plans, endowments, foundations, and asset managers for more than three decades as a senior client officer at BlackRock and UBS Investment Bank. In 2021, he was named a leading global “Knowledge Broker” by Chief Investment Officer.

Copies of Sustainable: Moving Beyond ESG to Impact Investing will be raffled off to attendees.

This event is co-sponsored with the CFA Society New York, the Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis, and the Museum of American Finance.