Norsif's active ownership seminar
Thursday 29 November: Breakfast seminar on active ownership from 08.00 to 10.00 at Storebrand's offices in Lysaker.
Venue: Storebrand, Professor Kohts vei 9, Lysaker. Simple breakfast is served from 08.00.
Program:
8.00 Registration and coffee
8.20 Welcome and short intro, Storebrand and Norsif
8.30 Keynote: Elroy Dimson, Cambridge Judge Business School
9.20 Panel with Q/A:
-Elroy Dimson, Cambridge Judge Business School
-Annie Bersagel, Folketrygdfondet
-Vemund Olsen, Regnskogfondet
10.00 End
Corporate engagement
A growing number of investors are undertaking corporate engagement and exercising their rights as business owners to influence corporate behavior. However, is active ownership worth our time and resources as investors? What is the evidence on the effectiveness and impact of active engagements?
How does the market react to active engagements?
What determines the success of active engagements?
What impact do engagements have on firm performance?
Professor Elroy Dimson has been focusing on these issues for many years. He chairs the Centre for Endowment Asset Management at Cambridge Judge Business School, and is Emeritus Professor at London Business School. He chaired the Strategy Council for Norway's sovereign wealth fund until 2016, and currently serves on the Boards of FTSE International is the Financial Analysts Journal.
In 2015, Professor Dimson, together with Oğuzhan Karakaş and Xi Li, carried out an analysis of 2,152 engagement exercises with 613 public firms between 1999 and 2009. Their study offered the most convincing evidence to date that successful ESG engagement leads to superior investment performance by target companies.
During this breakfast seminar, Professor Dimson will discuss their latest study, which examines collective rather than individual initiatives. This time, the authors analyze dialogues between 225 cooperating investment organizations and 964 target companies in 63 countries. This is the first study of coordinated, collaborative and international efforts to influence companies on environmental and social issues. Professor Dimson will reveal the secrets of successful engagement by responsible investors.
Professor Elroy Dimson
