Presenting at Introduction to ESG, Sustainable & Impact Investment One–Day Training
The How & Why of Applying ESG to Corporate Valuations
Hosted by Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College/CUNY on June 15th
Introduction:  For professionals in the capital markets, and in the corporate sector, G&A Institute and Global Change Associates are teamed to present a one-day professional training program, hosted by Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College/CUNY, in midtown Manhattan.  This is an excellent introduction to the application of ESG factors to investment making decisions and corporate valuations.  Find out more at https://intro2esg.eventbrite.com
ESG = the corporate environmental, social or societal and corporate governance factors to be evaluated by the financial analyst, asset owner, asset manager, and others in the capital markets in looking beyond the financial in selecting public companies for “buy/sell/hold” portfolio management decisions. (This is also referred to as “sustainable investing,” “impact investing,” and similar titles by practitioners.)
The outstanding faculty presenting during the one-day course will include experts in ESG / sustainable / impact investing, covering topics such as best practices; data sources; analytical tools; research resources; methodologies; why ESG matters; and realized outcomes using these approaches to analysis and investment management.
MEET ONE OF YOUR COURSE LEADERS
Mert Demir, PhD
Director of Research, Weissman Center for International Business, Baruch College/CUNY
TOPIC: About the Baruch CSR-Sustainability Monitor® Project

A conversation with Mert:
Q:   How is your day-to-day work related to the Intro to ESG, Sustainable & Impact Investment Certificate Program to be presented at Baruch?
[MD]  ESG information disclosed by companies through various channels including standalone or integrated reports is subject to considerable variation in content and quality due to their mostly voluntary or discretionary nature, preventing effective comparisons of company performance. This should limit their usefulness for stakeholders looking to make accurate judgments regarding a company’s ESG activities and risks; nevertheless, various stakeholders including investors continue to cite these reports as their primary source of information about the topic.
In the CSR-Sustainability Monitor project, we collect CSR/ESG/Sustainability reports published by the world’s largest organizations and assess the quality and accuracy of the information therein. The Monitor’s data provide an effective tool, which enables stakeholders to more adequately compare and contrast the ESG reports of large corporations across industries, sectors, and countries. The information we collect aids in decision-making, facilitates more accurate analysis of company performance, and hence market valuations.
Q:  What can attendees expect to learn from your session?
[MD] I will try to highlight some prevailing trends in ESG reporting by the world’s largest corporations as the variations in their ESG reporting practices have significant implications for the ESG information collected and used by various stakeholders in their company-related decisions including investment.
Thus, for firms, providing comprehensive and complete information through these reports to their stakeholders is as important, if not more, as providing material and relevant information. While ESG reporting is still an evolving phenomenon and hence limited standardization is commonplace, attendees/stakeholders should be well aware of this fact and not take the information provided by companies for granted.
They should always check to make sure it is relevant, accurate, and credible, and of high quality, which will allow them to gain a better view of the big picture before acting.
Q:  What advice do you have or opportunity that you see for attendees who complete the Certificate Program?
[MD] Our work on the CSR-S Monitor often includes research into industry trends and puts us in contact with industry professionals. We consistently find that corporate interest in CSR issues is at an all-time high and still growing, despite being also a relatively recent phenomenon.
For example, between 2011 and 2015 the percentage of companies on the S&P 500® universe of companies publishing ESG reports jumped from 20% to 81%. This combination of factors means many organizations are going to be trying to start or expand their CSR efforts, but whether they look internal or external to their company they will not have as many qualified candidates as they may for other, more traditional roles.
Essentially, completing the Certificate Program demonstrates a strong interest in a subject that is clearly important to many stakeholders, but still evolving and not widely understood. Overall, this is a situation which is certain to lead to great opportunities for course attendees.
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CAREER BACKGROUND: MERT DEMIR, PHD
Mert Demir holds a PhD in Finance and works as the Director of Research in the CSR-Sustainability Monitor Project at the Weissman Center for International Business, Baruch College, CUNY. Demir’s research centers around corporate finance and sustainability. Currently, his research focuses on the roles of corporate responsibility and related disclosure quality on corporate financing decisions and firm valuations. Demir holds a bachelor’s degree in Statistics and an MBA with a concentration in Finance. His academic research has been published in top tier academic journals and presented in several national and international conferences. Demir is also an editor of the Monitor’s annual report.
For more information about the course and how to register, visit: https://intro2esg.eventbrite.com