BWBN CFA Scholarship and Mentorship Program 2023 Recap

Three female candidates share their first-hand experience of the program, which has helped them upskill their ESG knowledge and navigate their career paths.

At the close of 2022, the Bloomberg Women’s Buy-Side Network (BWBN) Australia and New Zealand chapter rolled out a scholarship and mentorship program as part of their commitment to continuously inspire and support the next generation of female buy-side leaders. As part of a competitive process, five female candidates were awarded the BWBN-CFA Certificate in ESG Investing, designed to provide investment practitioners the knowledge around analyzing and integrating material ESG factors into their day-to-day roles.

In addition to the Certificate in ESG Investing, the winners were also paired up with BWBN Executive Members for a six-month mentorship program, where senior buy-side leaders worked closely with the candidates to help navigate and nurture their careers. In this blog post, three candidates share their key takeaways from the ESG course and their mentorship experience.

Insights from the Certificate in ESG Investing
The finance industry is starting to incorporate sustainable investing into investment portfolios, making the ability to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment decisions an increasingly important skillset for any investment professional. “There isn’t much in the way of certifications for ESG investing, so this course was a way for me to obtain strong fundamentals in the sustainable finance industry and also demonstrate my skillset and passion for this space,” says Emilie O’Neill, Co-Head of ESG and Equities Analyst at Perennial Partners.

The course provided context for different approaches to responsible investment, in particular consideration of ESG factors and their underlying issues. A core part includes knowledge into the ESG market such as relevance, size, scope, key drivers, challenges, risks and opportunities. Other areas such as how environmental, social and governance factors are closely intertwined were also highlighted. For Jessica Mackay, a final year undergraduate student at the University of New South Wales, the ESG integration and analysis portions of the course were “the most interesting and most important,” she says. She notes that the course has broadened her understanding of ESG-related institutions, forums and NGOs in Europe, which serve as benchmarks for Australia’s progress in integrating ESG practices relative to global peers. The course sparked Jessica’s passion in ESG, which has encouraged her to undertake additional education in sustainability, where she will take up an intensive developmental economics course at the London School of Economics this summer.

Predictions for the evolution of ESG investing
As it stands, there is currently no globally consistent ESG reporting framework, but all three candidates and the industry are optimistic that positive change is coming. There are talks about the introduction of global taxonomies, such as the International Sustainability Standards Board designed to ensure companies disclose accurate sustainability-related information in the short, medium and long term. “I hope ESG investing will become the standard and I’ll no longer need “ESG” in my job title,” remarked Emilie. Joanna Chang, Risk Specialist at Australian Prudential Regulation Authority echoed the same with the hopes that “one day all investment activity will be synonymous with ESG investing” where asset owners would holistically integrate ESG into all investment decisions. As a student, Jessica noted her desire for business sustainability to be fully integrated into university finance coursework as this would train up the next generation of practitioners to embed sustainability into all of their thinking and decision-making.

Mentorship takeaways
Throughout the six-month mentorship program, candidates were paired up with BWBN’s Executive Members and had the opportunity to discuss career pathing, aspirations, and navigating their goals for the short and long term.

Joanna valued the opportunity to have insightful conversations with her mentor Alicia Gregory, Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Future Fund, particularly discussing in-depth how to best apply new domain knowledge in their current roles, with aims to open up new development opportunities. For Emilie, she complimented her mentor Cassandra Crowe, Vice President at T. Rowe Price, around her commitment to championing greater diversity and inclusion in the finance industry. Jessica, who was paired with James Bell, Managing Director of Bloomberg Sydney, applauded her mentor, who had been “instrumental in [her] personal and professional development”. She was grateful for their discussions that covered leadership, management styles, productivity, goal setting, work-life balance and more, prompting her to reflect deeper into her experiences and values to ensure they reflected the career and life path she envisioned for the future.

The CFA scholarship and mentorship program is an initiative that ladders up to the broader mission of the Australia and New Zealand chapter of BWBN. The chapter aims to inspire the next generation of investors, elevate female role-models and grow the pipeline of female leaders in asset management and remains committed to convening like-minded leaders to chart progress together.