Rising to the Challenge

Join Canadian and global investors to shift capital markets towards inclusion, justice, equity, sustainability and resilience.

FEBRUARY 16 – 19

REGISTER

Against the backdrop of the social and economic impacts of COVID-19, escalating wealth inequality, systemic racism and the continuing climate crisis, all actors in society are being called upon to rise to the challenge – including investors. The SHARE Investor Summit 2021 will bring together investment decision-makers and leaders to identify ways of working together to address these challenges.

2021

Program at a glance

9:00 AM Pacific / 12:00 PM Eastern

WELCOME & OPENING

TUESDAY
FEBRUARY 16, 2021

9:00am PST / 12:00pm EST

WELCOME & OPENING

SPEAKERS

Leslee White-eye
Board Member
SHARE

 

Kevin Thomas
Chief Executive Officer
SHARE
Close

9:20 – 10:15 AM Pacific / 12:20 – 1:15pm Eastern

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Mobilizing for a Green COVID-19 Recovery

TUESDAY
FEBRUARY 16, 2021

9:20am PST / 12:20pm EST

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Mobilizing for a Green COVID-19 Recovery: Policy design to address systems change

The global Coronavirus pandemic provides an opportunity to revitalize the economy to become more resilient to the next multi-trillion dollar crisis headed our way – the climate crisis. This keynote address will be delivered by one of the architects of the Green New Deal in the U.S. He will speak about systems change and the need for intersectional policies that are designed to address connected issues in a way that protects the most vulnerable while building a more just and sustainable economy.

SPEAKERS

Demond Drummer
Co-founder and Executive Director
New Consensus
Close

10:15 – 10:25 AM Pacific / 1:15 – 1:25 PM Eastern

SHORT BREAK

10:25 – 10:50 AM Pacific / 1:25 – 1:50 PM Eastern

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT

The Crisis in Long Term Care Homes

TUESDAY,
FEBRUARY 16, 2021

10:25am PST / 1:25pm EST

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT

The Crisis in Long-Term Care

The global Coronavirus pandemic has laid bare many fundamental flaws in our social, economic and political systems. But perhaps nothing so clearly as the crisis in long-term care facilities. In Ontario alone, more than 2000 residents have died in long-term care due to COVID-19 with evidence showing for-profit homes faring worse than publicly-run homes. Hear from the PSAC on their national campaign to stop private, for-profit long-term care.

While supporting the PSAC campaign, some investors are also raising concerns about poor working conditions in long-term care facilities and how these have contributed to the abhorrent conditions and shocking death toll in many Canadian homes. In this campaign spotlight, you will hear about ways investors can support this multi-pronged effort.

SPEAKERS

James Infantino
Pensions and Disability Insurance Officer
PSAC

 

Emma Pullman
Capital Markets Strategist
BCGEU

 

Anthony Schein
Director of Shareholder Advocacy
SHARE
Close

12:30 – 2:00 PM Pacific / 3:30 – 5:00 PM Eastern

SIMULTANEOUS EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS

SHARE’s educational sessions are designed for individuals who have governing roles on boards of trustees and investment committees as well as relevant institutional staff from foundations, trade unions, universities, religious organizations and Indigenous communities. We kindly ask that service providers NOT participate in these educational sessions. Corporate trustees of Indigenous Trusts are able to join the Indigenous Trustee Workshop. We thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions about this policy, please contact Shannon Rohan at [email protected]

PENSION Trustee Bootcamp:
An Introduction to Pension Investment & Governance

TUESDAY,
FEBRUARY 16, 2021

12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST

PENSION Trustee Bootcamp:

An Introduction to Pension Investment & Governance

This will be the first session in a series of four educational workshops targeted at new pension trustees and those interested in becoming a pension trustee. Over the course of four 90-minute sessions once a week for 4 weeks, the Bootcamp will provide an introduction to pension investment, pension fund governance, fiduciary duty, and capital stewardship.

The Pension Trustee Bootcamp is ONLY open to trustees, investment committee members or trade union officers. Service providers are not able to participate in the Trustee Bootcamp

PLEASE NOTE: Separate registration is required to attend this session

SPEAKERS

Shannon Rohan
Chief Strategy Officer
SHARE

 

Murray Gold
Partner
Koskie Minsky

 

Stephanie Bertels
Director, Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability
Simon Fraser University
Close

INDIGENOUS Trustee Workshop:
Investing for Today and Future Generations

TUESDAY,
FEBRUARY 16, 2021

12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST

INDIGENOUS Trustee Workshop:

Investing for Today and Future Generations

An educational workshop for experienced Indigenous trustees focused on trust investment and governance including a look at incorporating values and beliefs into investment policy statements, working effectively with managers, alternative asset classes and capital stewardship. We will draw on the expertise of several representatives of Indigenous trusts and investment funds to explore a range of strategies employed to date.

SPEAKERS

Anthony Mallott
CEO
Sealaska

 

Katie Wheatley
Program Manager
Reconciliation and Responsible Investment Initiative

 

Mark Sevestre
Senior Advisor and Founding Member
NATOA
Close

FOUNDATION Investing 2.0 Workshop:
Measuring Impact Across Your Portfolio

TUESDAY,
FEBRUARY 16, 2021

12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST

FOUNDATION Investing 2.0 Workshop:

Measuring Impact Across Your Portfolio

Designed for Foundation executive directors, senior program staff, board directors and investment committee members interested in looking at specific elements of impact and responsible investing including a total portfolio approach and impact measurement across asset classes.

SPEAKERS

Kelly Gauthier
Managing Director and Partner
Rally Assets

 

Mike Thiessen
Partner and Director, Sustainable Investments
Genus Capital

 

Paul Lacerte
Managing Partner
Raven Indigenous Capital Partners

 

Claudia Hepburn
CEO
Windmill Microlending
Close

PENSION Trustee Masterclass:
Governing Systemic Risk

TUESDAY,
FEBRUARY 16, 2021

12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST

PENSION Trustee Masterclass:

Governing Systemic Risk

An advanced course for pension trustees and investment committee members focused on deepening oversight of responsible investment practices including fit for purpose governance structures in the context of emerging systemic risks.

PLEASE NOTE: This session is for pension trustees, investment committee members and advisory committee members only

SPEAKERS

Hugues Létourneau
Program Manager
Committee on Workers’ Capital and SHARE

 

Tamara Herman
Senior Program Officer
Committee on Workers’ Capital and SHARE

 

Stephen Dunne
Chair, Investment Committee
CBUS
Close

9:00 – 10:15 AM Pacific / 12:00 – 1:15pm Eastern

IN-DEPTH SESSION

Practical Realities of Responsible Investment Oversight:
The role of asset owners in challenging the investment sector to rise to the challenge

WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 17, 2021

9am PST / 12pm EST

IN-DEPTH SESSION

Practical Realities of Responsible Investment Oversight: Strategies for evaluating asset managers’ ESG performance

There has been significant growth over the past 3 years in demand for ESG, RI and impact products from asset owners across Canada and the investment management industry has responded by developing new products and in some cases revamping existing products. The challenge for asset owners is how to effectively evaluate these products in a way that challenges the investment sector to raise its game on ESG integration, impact investing and stewardship.

This session will provide practical advice for asset owners on the kind of information to look for when hiring new managers and in monitoring current managers. It will profile an innovative case study from a group of UK Foundations that put out a public, joint tender to the investment industry with the simple instruction to “impress us on social and environmental integration and impact”.

Join us for this practical session where you will come away with ready-to-use information for working more effectively with your asset managers.

SPEAKERS

Colin Baines
Investment Engagement Manager
Friends Provident Foundation

 

Faith Ward
Chief Responsible Investment Officer
Brunel Pension Partnership

 

Tamara Herman
Senior Program Officer
SHARE and CWC

MODERATOR

Mritunjay (MJ) Sinha
Director of Finance & Investment
The Catherine Donnelly Foundation
Close

10:15 – 10:25 AM Pacific / 1:15 – 1:25 PM Eastern

SHORT BREAK

10:25 – 10:50 AM Pacific / 1:25 – 1:50 PM Eastern

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT

Workers’ rights and risks at Amazon: Investor action ahead of the 2021 AGM

WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 17, 2021

1:00pm PST / 4:00pm EST

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT

Workers’ rights and risks at Amazon: Investor action ahead of the 2021 AGM

Amazon.com now has more than 1 million employees around the world and its growth has accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has fuelled e-commerce. The vast majority of Amazon employees work in fulfillment centres and logistics operations. In recent months, the company has faced growing investor scrutiny on its poor health and safety practices for frontline workers and on its unwavering adversity towards collective bargaining – a fundamental labour right. This session will profile efforts by investors to raise these issues with the company, including through shareholder proposals, ahead of its AGM in May 2021.

SPEAKERS

Fredric Nyström
Head of Responsible Investment
Öhman Fonder

 

Gagandeep Kaur
Organizer
Warehouse Workers Centre

 

Hugues Létourneau
Program Manager
Committee on Workers’ Capital and SHARE
Close

1:00 – 2:00 PM Pacific / 4:00 – 5:00 PM Eastern

THEMATIC SESSION

Growing the Indigenous Economy in Partnership: Lessons for investors

WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 17, 2021

1:00pm PST / 4:00pm EST

THEMATIC SESSION

Co-hosted with the Principles for Responsible Investment

Growing the Indigenous Economy in Partnership: Lessons for investors

Enshrined within the Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action #92 for the business sector is the need to support Indigenous communities in securing long-term, sustainable benefits from economic development – towards which equity ownership and participation is a significant step.This session will explore recent examples in which Indigenous peoples have become important partners in business ownership, highlighting case studies from fishing and renewables industries. This session will explore the role for investors in encouraging these kinds of equity partnerships across their portfolios alongside support for Indigenous participation in investee companies’ operations and governance.

SPEAKERS

Merle Alexander
Principal
Indigenous Law Group, Miller Titerle Law Corporation

 

Terri Lynn Morrison
Director, Strategic Partnerships & Communications
Indigenous Clean Energy

 

Mark Fattedad
Director & Portfolio Manager, Institutional Management
Jarislowsky Fraser

MODERATOR

Katie Wheatley
Program Manager,
Reconciliation and Responsible Investment Initiative
SHARE
Close

9:00 – 10:15 AM Pacific / 12:00 – 1:15pm Eastern

IN-DEPTH SESSION

Rising to the Challenge:
Time for a Radical Rethink of Corporate Governance

THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 18, 2021

9am PST / 12pm EST

IN-DEPTH SESSION

Rising to the Challenge: Time for a Radical Rethink of Corporate Governance

Can we close the gap between recent high-minded statements about corporate purpose and responsibility, and actual changes in how corporations are governed? Is all the talk about “stakeholder capitalism” a real opportunity to improve corporate accountability and sustainability, and if so, what does that look like and how can investors play a role? Who should have a seat at the board table, and how are they held accountable? How do we measure and compensate executive performance, and how much is too much? Is culture and engagement measurable, or will managers just game the results?

This fast-paced “shark tank” session will invite three corporate governance leaders to each propose, debate and defend one radical but achievable rethink of corporate governance, and you’ll get to vote on the idea whose time has come. Together with the audience, they’ll challenge the status quo and chart a path to more accountable and sustainable corporations.

SPEAKERS

Tom Powdrill
Head of Stewardship
PIRC

 

Susheela Peres da Costa
Regnan
.

 

Lenore Palladino
Umass Amherst

MODERATOR

Kevin Thomas
Chief Executive Officer
SHARE

Close

10:15 – 10:25 AM Pacific / 1:15 – 1:25 PM Eastern

SHORT BREAK

10:25 – 10:50 AM Pacific / 1:25 – 1:50 PM Eastern

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT

Reconciliation in ACTION

WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 17, 2021

9am PST / 12pm EST

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT

Reconciliation in ACTION

In 2019, the Reconciliation and Responsible Investment Initiative (RRII) published a guide providing practical advice to investors on ways to advance reconciliation.

In 2020, we gathered at the inaugural Investor Summit to brainstorm how to implement those ideas and further leverage investors’ assets to champion Indigenous rights and title within investment policies and practices. In that session, people shared ideas and others made commitments. In this 25-minute campaign spotlight, we will be sharing stories of Reconciliation in ACTION so we can continue to rise to the challenge, work together, inspire eachother and ensure that investors are supporting Indigenous leadership, Indigenous rights and the Indigenous economy.

SPEAKERS

Kathy Smail
Executive Director
Glasswaters Foundation

 

Andrew Coward
Treasurer
University of Victoria

 

Mark Sevestre
Senior Advisor and Founding Member
NATOA
Close

12:00 – 1:00 PM Pacific / 3:00 – 4:00 PM Eastern

THEMATIC SESSION

Getting warmer: Investor action on the climate crisis is heating up

THURSDAY,
FEBRUARY 18, 2021

12pm PST / 3pm EST

THEMATIC SESSION / Sponsored by: VANCITY

Getting warmer: Investor action on the climate crisis is heating up

The climate crisis has not only challenged companies to reconsider business as usual; it has also forced investors to re-think the place of environmental considerations in corporate governance, financial analysis and regulatory action. What are the new frontiers of climate action in corporate Canada, and how are investors raising the stakes for companies that lag behind? Our expert panelists will show us the new strategies and tactics that are coming up as institutional investors meet the climate challenge.

SPEAKERS

Sonia Medina
Executive Director, Climate Change
Children’s Investment Fund Foundation

 

Jonathan Fowlie
Vice President Government Relations, Public Affairs and Community Investment
Vancity

 

Dr. Janis Sarra
Professor of Law, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia,
and Principal Co-Investigator, Canada Climate Law Initiative

 

Mike Toulch
Senior Engagement and Policy Analyst
SHARE
Close

9:00 – 10:15 AM Pacific / 12:00 – 1:15pm Eastern

IN-DEPTH SESSION

Affordable Cities:
How can investors address the affordable housing crisis?

FRIDAY,
FEBRUARY 19, 2021

9am PST / 12pm EST

IN-DEPTH SESSION

Affordable Cities: How can investors address the affordable housing crisis?

Inequality in Canada is growing rapidly. While income inequality is a key contributing factor to economic inequality, wealth inequality is even worse. In Canada, as in other countries, a major factor driving wealth inequality is housing.

According to StatsCan data, about 3.3 million households, almost one in four, have housing costs above the affordability threshold. The situation in cities like Vancouver and Toronto is even worse with one-third of households coping with unaffordable housing.

One of the drivers of housing unaffordability is the financial system and the shift towards treating housing as a commodity rather than a human dwelling. This trend is known as the financialization of housing whereby housing is no longer considered a universal human right but rather a means to accumulate wealth, a security for financial instruments and a safe have to park excess capital.

Within this context we are seeing growing exposure to real estate – including residential real estate – in the portfolios of institutional investors through shareholdings in real estate investment trusts (REITs), through private equity funds specializing in residential real estate and through direct investment in residential developments.

This session will look at how housing unaffordability is exacerbated by the primacy of financial capital and the power that the financial system has over other key housing stakeholders. It will also look at whether there is a positive role that investors can play as capital providers and stewards to prioritize housing affordability.

SPEAKERS

Martine August
Assistant Professor
School of Planning, University of Waterloo

 

Garth Davis
Managing Partner
New Market Funds

 

Sylvia Poniecki
Director, Positive Social Purpose Lending Program
Wespath Benefits and Investments

MODERATOR

Claire-Helene Heese-Boutin
Community Finance Lead
Parkdale People’s Economy
Close

10:15 – 10:25 AM Pacific / 1:15 – 1:25 PM Eastern

SHORT BREAK

10:25 – 10:50 AM Pacific / 1:25 – 1:50 PM Eastern

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT

Towards Responsible Real Estate Management

FRIDAY,
FEBRUARY 19, 2021

10:25am PST / 1:25pm EST

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT

Towards Responsible Real Estate Management

The Canadian Capital Stewardship Network (CCSN) has launched its first-ever campaign to encourage pension funds to implement proactive measures to promote safe, sustainable and responsible business practices in the context of COVID-19.

This spotlight will highlight the work of the CCSN and the steps that trustees and other investors can take to set clear expectations for real estate and private equity managers on the responsible management of workforce risks in their portfolios. Learn more about the campaign in the spotlight and how you get involved.

SPEAKERS

Poonam Datar
CEO
Cleaning Accountability Framework

 

Shalini Ramgoolam
Program Officer
SHARE and Committee on Workers’ Capital

 

Mackenzie Smith
Pension Specialist
UNITE HERE International Union
Close

12:30 – 1:30 PM Pacific / 3:30 – 4:30 PM Eastern

THEMATIC SESSION

Challenging Inequality and Injustice in the Economic Recovery: How are investors rising to the challenge?

FRIDAY,
FEBRUARY 19, 2021

12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST

THEMATIC SESSION

Challenging Inequality and Injustice in the Economic Recovery: How are investors rising to the challenge?

COVID-19 has exacerbated existing inequality and it is increasingly clear that racial, economic and social injustices are relevant issues for investors. Just as investors have realized that the risks associated with the climate crisis cannot be externalized, so too must we realize that the risks of deep divisions and growing inequality in our society can no longer be considered as irrelevant to investment decision-making. 

The systemic risks associated with racial injustice and deeply embedded economic inequality are undermining the stability of our democracies and our economies. They are affecting returns, elevating risks and impacting the very people that we are investing on behalf of – our pension beneficiearies, our donors, our community members, our educational institutions, our congregations.

Bold and transformational actions are required to drive meaningful changes in the economy. This session will look at how investors are rising to the challenge and where the opportunities are for investors to do more. It will highlight case studies of how investors are challenging inequality and injustice through a range of strategies including portfolio construction, shareholder engagement, proxy voting and policy advocacy to address racial and economic justice and growing inequality.

SPEAKERS

Shante Little
Research and Content Lead
Transform Finance

 

Pat Miguel Tomaino
Director of Socially Responsible Investint
Zevin Asset Management

 

Sarah Couturier-Tanoh
Senior Engagement and Policy Analyst
SHARE

MODERATOR

Mitchell Anderson
Trustee
United Church of Canada Pension Plan
Close

1:30 – 1:45 PM Pacific / 4:30 – 4:45 PM Eastern

CLOSING REMARKS

Download a PDF copy of the agenda here

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Rising to the Challenge

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