CFO Forum to kick off day of discussion on finance and sustainability

A special spring CFO Forum, April 4 at the Business School, will explore the impacts of sustainability concerns on investors, financial managers and the financial services industry.

The discussion among the region’s chief financial officers and UW Business School faculty will be moderated by investment manager Ken Davis and led by a panel of expert guests: John Prestbo, markets editor for The Wall Street Journal and editor of Dow Jones Indexes (New York); Alka Banerjee, vice president of global index management and chairperson of the S&P Emerging Market Indices (New York); and George S. Dallas, managing director and global practice leader for corporate governance at Standard & Poor’s (London).

According to Jonathan Karpoff, faculty director of the CFO Forum, the event will explore the trends and impacts of social and environmental investment strategies.

“Among them, what does ‘sustainability’ mean to leading money managers? How much financial capital is chasing sustainable strategies? How do investors’ sustainability concerns affect company reputations and cash flows? What are the Dow Jones and S&P sustainability indices? And, can green investing change the world?"

Following the forum, Business School Dean James Jiambalvo will host a midday summit meeting between the CFO Forum presenters and leaders from the Pacific Northwest investment and endowment community, including Bill Gates, Sr., co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Patrick Martinell of BGI Group; Phyllis Campbell (EMBA 1987), president and CEO of the Seattle foundation; Anne Farrell, president emeritus of the Seattle Foundation; and Carol Lewis, CEO of Philanthropy Northwest.

Prestbo, Banerjee and Dallas will close the day with a public panel discussion moderated by local news reporter Eric Sorenson and sponsored by the UW Business School, the UW Program on the Environment, the CFO Forum and the UW Environmental Management Program. This event, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. in room 210 of Kane Hall, is free and open to the public.