COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA 292I.1B

This course is cross-listed with the Full-time MBA Program

COURSE TITLE: Social Investing - Challenges and Opportunities in Asset Management

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1.0

INSTRUCTOR: Lloyd Kurtz

E-MAIL ADDRESS: lloydkurtz at berkeley dot edu

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: bCourses

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Tuesday, 6:00PM-9:30PM, (4/5 – 5/3)

PREREQUISITE(S): Asset Management (Marshall)

CLASS FORMAT:
The course will cover key topics in modern social and sustainable investment practice, including impact of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors on: portfolio risk assessment, firm cost of capital, valuation, implications for fundamental analysis, and assessment of impact.

REQUIRED READINGS: A packet of readings will be provided prior to the first class session.

Background material may be found on the following websites:
https://responsiblebusiness.haas.berkeley.edu/programs/moskowitzresearchprogram.html
http://www.unpri.org

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Group project, final paper, class participation.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the theory and practice of modern social investing in an asset management context, and to introduce you to recent research in the field. With new impetus from the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, the use of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria is becoming increasingly prevalent throughout the world.

Over the past decade, empirical work has shown surprising and sometimes counter-intuitive relationships between ESG factors and financial outcomes. This course will review social and sustainable investment techniques in detail, along with related academic studies, and encourage you to do your own analysis and develop your own views on the field of social investment.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Lloyd Kurtz is Chief Investment Officer at Nelson Capital Management. He has been affiliated with the Haas Center for Responsible Business since 2005, where he oversees the Center's annual Moskowitz Prize for the best quantitative study of social investing, acts as faculty advisor to the Haas Socially Responsible Investment Fund, and serves on the editorial board of FSinsight (fsinsight.org). His recent research includes a Fall 2011 article on social investment universe performance in the Journal of Investing and a chapter on stakeholder management for the textbook Socially Responsible Finance and Investing (Wiley). He also wrote the 2013 book "Looking Forward, Looking Back: A Hitchhiker's Guide to Research on Social and Sustainable Investment" for Tilburg University, and a chapter on social investment for the 2008 Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility. He holds Bachelors degrees in English and Psychology from Vassar College and an MBA from Babson College, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.