ESG engagement can have a large impact. For example, research suggests that persuading firms to cut carbon emissions in line with best practice could limit global warming to 2°C.[1] Moreover, successful ESG engagement can boost investment returns by 4 to 5%.[2] By contrast, funding ethical or green firms (the more traditional ESG strategy) has limited real-world impact.[3] By persuading firms to change, MBA students can deliver tremendous impact –while unlocking financial value.
Teams will use Arvella Investment’s award-winning Engagement Maximizer. It allows selecting a firm and identifying one key ESG issue whose improvement could deliver outsized impact while unlocking financial value. Teams will build a full case for implementing change. They will suggest actionable solutions, learning from competitors’ best practices (something the Engagement Maximizer can help identify). They will explain how their suggested solution would boost profits. Extra points will be awarded for teams that engage companies and try to persuade them to act.
Any MBA students. They must be currently enrolled full- or part-time. Teams will consist of up to five members.
The winning team will choose to donate $5,000 to the CDP or the Empowerment & Opportunity Fund of Gates Philanthropy Partners. Both charities have a proven track record of making a significant positive difference in the world. CDP is a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts. The Empowerment & Opportunity Fund of Gates Philanthropy Partners aims to give an equal chance to girls and women to learn, lead, earn and thrive.
Until June 16th 2023
By June 30th 2023
By July 7th 2023
July 17th 2023
(via video conference)
Eva Zlotnicka
Founder, Managing Partner, and the President of Inclusive Capital Partners
Howard Covington
Chair of the Board of Trustees & Development Board Chair, ClientEarth
Anne-Sophie d’Andlau
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, CIAM
Dr Todd Cort
Faculty Co-Director for the Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY) and the Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance (YISF)
Benoît Mercereau
Founder & CIO, Arvella Investments
To register to the Challenge, please send the Registration Form (available here) to mbachallenge@arvella.com
If you have any questions, please send us an email at mbachallenge@arvella.com
Click here to download more information
[1] Mercereau, Neveux, Sertã, Marechal and Tonolo “Fighting climate change as a global equity investor”, The Journal of Asset Management, February 2020.
[2] Dimson, Elroy, Oğuzhan Karakaş, and Xi Li. 2015. “Active Ownership.”; Dimson, Elroy and Karakaş, Oğuzhan and Li, Xi. 2019. “Coordinated Engagements”.
[3] Berk and van Binsbergen, “The Impact of Impact Investing,” mimeo, Stanford U. and U. of Pennsylvania, June 2022.
*The winning team will choose to donate money to one of the following organizations: CDP or Gates Philanthropy Partners (Empowerment & Opportunity fund).
