NEOMA 2^nd Conference on Sustainable Finance gathered international researchers and professionals to discuss the challenges and the future of implementing sustainability practices. The event was held on the school’s Paris campus on May 23, 2024.

Impactful academic research

“Academic sessions covered the latest advances in all areas related to sustainable finance, presented by international researchers.” explained Sara Ain Tommar, co-organiser of the conference, assistant professor in Finance, and coordinator of Finance for Good sub-area of the World We Want area of excellence of NEOMA.

Examples of the key takeaways include:

• Weather volatility increases the likelihood of unexpected costs.
• Sustainable investing reduces the significance of cash flows in shaping stock prices.
• Higher environmental scores are associated with increases in equity issuance and decreases in debt issuance, without increasing the firm’s overall capital.
• Funds aligned with SDGs attract inflows only if they also have a sustainability mandate.
• Absolute moral commitments from key stakeholders (institutional investors, corporations, and institutions) is important to facilitate coal power plants phase out.
• Greenwashing impacts investors’ behaviour.

Keynote speakers shared thought-provoking presentations

Professor Vikas Agarwal from Georgia State University shared an overview and more recent findings about hedge fund research, notably the effect of non-financial criteria, such as charitable activities and eponymy, on funds’ performance and ethical behaviour.

Professor Stefano Lovo from HEC Paris shared insightful findings from a recent experimental study about the economics of introducing and adopting a more sustainable lifestyle, and results about the most effective policies in helping so. Details on the experiment can be found on Professor Lovo’s website.

Distinguished Practioners’ insights

“The conference concluded with a Professional Panel discussion, featuring representatives from regulatory institutions, advisers, company executives, fund managers, and other financial institutions.” added Sami Attaoui, co-organiser of the conference, and Academic Director of the Global Executive MBA at NEOMA.

The roundtable, moderated by Messaoud Chibane (NEOMA), welcomed Isabelle Tracq-Sengeissen, Partner – EY, Laura Malucelli, Sustainable Banking Associate – Crédit Agricole CIB and Mathieu Joubrel, Chief Technical Officer – ValueCo. The panelists shared with the audience the latest developments in sustainability practices and the main challenges facing future evolution, notably issues related to measurement, regulation, harmonious implementation and the use of new technologies.

“Hosting such a conference on sustainable finance is not only aligned with NEOMA BS’ research strategy, but also reinforces the School’s focus on strengthening the impact of our research, especially the impact it can have around sustainability issues” Serge da Motta Veiga, NEOMA Research Director, concluded.

NEOMA 2024 Conference on Sustainable Finance (2^nd edition) was successfully organised by NEOMA Area of Excellence The World We Want/Finance for Good, in partnership with the Impact Finance Hub at Deakin University (Australia) and the support NEOMA Global Executive MBA programme and corporate partners.