Misum Forum 2024 Summary & Highlights
Striking a balance: Navigating inevitable trade-offs for achieving sustainable markets
With sustainability at the forefront of global discussions, the Misum Forum 2024 delved into the imperative of navigating trade-offs for achieving sustainable markets. Central to our discussions was an acknowledgment of the intricate challenges facing sustainable markets and the role of the financial market in addressing them.
Based on the research insights of our distinguished speakers from the strategy and finance disciplines, we addressed the questions of: Are there inherent trade-offs between social or environmental impact and financial returns? What are the limits of the win-win mindset? What could be some principles for action in the face of trade-offs?
Keynote speaker:
Professor Sarah Kaplan, Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Strategic Management at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Professor Sarah Kaplan is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, where she is the founding Director of the Institute for Gender and the Economy (GATE). She is also a Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, and has nearly a decade of experience at the consultancy firm, McKinsey & Company.
Professor Kaplan's address will include insights from her bestselling book "The 360° Corporation: From Stakeholder Trade-offs to Transformation".
Distinguished speakers:
Professor Patrick Bolton, Research Director, Centre for Climate Finance & Investment and, Professor of Finance & Economics, Imperial College Business School.
Prof. Patrick Bolton's research focuses on contract theory and corporate finance. In his work, he explores complex economic phenomena, providing insights into various aspects of financial systems and their implications for both organizations and broader societal contexts. Recent research includes global pricing of carbon-transition risk as well as restructuring techniques that could be used towards the planetary effort to fight climate change.
Professor Harrison Hong, John R. Eckel, Jr. Professor of Financial Economics at Columbia University.
With expertise in behavioral finance and asset pricing, Prof. Hong's research delves into the impact of psychological biases on financial markets and investor behavior. In the Misum Forum, he will present new work that builds on the idea that the impact of green stakeholders, who demand that their firms abate carbon emissions, depends on the allocation of the other types of green stakeholders across the economy.
Panel: Financial vs Sustainability goals
Financial markets play a crucial role in guiding corporations toward more sustainable practices. They provide capital, redistribute risk, and enable investors to engage with companies on sustainability issues through stewardship activities.
At the same time, investors and portfolio companies face complex dilemmas as they navigate trade-offs between short- and long-term goals, balancing returns for current and future stakeholders. Reflecting this complexity, academic research has produced mixed evidence on the impact of environmental and social policies on financial returns.
This panel discussion explored how investors and leaders of firms confront these challenges and make difficult decisions in the face of uncertain outcomes.
Participants:
Eva Halvarsson, CEO AP2 (Andra AP-fonden)
Anna Brodowski, Vice President Public Affairs Innovation & Sustainability, Essity
Masih Yazdi, CFO SEB
Harrison Hong, John R. Eckel Jr. Professor of Financial Economics at Columbia University
Moderated by: Catarina Rolfsdotter-Jansson