COURSE NUMBER: MBA292J.1

COURSE TITLE: Haas Sustainable Investment Fund (SIF)

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2

INSTRUCTOR: Adair Morse, Julia Sze, Sam Olesky

EMAIL: morse@haas.berkeley.edu, juliawsze@berkeley.edu, olesky@haas.berkeley.edu

PREREQUISITES: Financial Information Analysis and Evaluation (FIA), Sustainable Portfolio Construction

CLASS FORMAT: This is an experiential course with highly engaged student Principals making decisions on the Sustainable Investment Fund’s $3 million corpus. Faculty will provide some instruction on integrating ESG considerations into fundamental investment decisions, there will be guest speakers and treks to visit companies and fund managers, and the bulk of the work will be student led discovery on compelling, values aligned investments for the Fund’s short, medium and long term objectives. Initiative, commitment, and interest will be critical to success in this class. Real money with real implications for Haas are at stake.

REQUIRED READINGS:

Ability to use Bloomberg, FactSet, and Mergent Online will be required as part of the class.

Fundamentals of company research, 3 statement financial models, and basic understanding of accounting should be acquired in FIA or in other academic or professional background.

https://www.sasb.org/

Company and fund research provided in class.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:

Participation, engagement, and contribution to class discussion 45%

Asset research and presentations 35%

Active and passive funds research and presentations 20%

ABSTRACT OF COURSE’S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

Student Principals enjoy a unique opportunity to invest over $3 million across asset classes based on values and ESG priorities decided by each year’s class. Faculty advisors provide guidance, access to best in class ESG investment managers, and company visits to listed companies headquartered in the Bay Area for a robust and provocative learning experience. Students should be prepared to ask hard questions, challenge conventional thinking, and defend their investment ideas.

Class objectives:

Provide student Principals with the skills necessary to pursue careers in:

a. fundamental and quantitative portfolio management

b. corporate sustainable investments

c. sustainable and climate finance

Manage the Sustainable Investment Fund, including:

a. craft an Investment Policy Statement based on Fund objectives and

constraints

b. establish values and sustainability issue areas

c. team research and evaluation of individual assets and funds

d. report on financial returns and risk

3. Establish sustainability and impact measurement standards for Fund holdings and report annually.

4. Engage and communicate with SIF stakeholders, including the Fund’s Investment Advisory Committee, donors, IBSI, and the broader Haas community.

CAREER FIELD: Investment management, corporate sustainability, climate finance.

SELECTION PROCESS: Principals must take course pre-requisites and demonstrate commitment to the full year course.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Adair Morse is Associate Professor of Finance at Berkeley Haas and a Fellow at the Berkeley Center for Law and Business. She holds a PhD in finance from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and Master’s degrees in statistics and agricultural economics from Purdue University. She began her career as an entrepreneur in Poland and has since taught New Venture Finance, Global Entrepreneurial Finance, and Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity at Berkeley Haas and the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Her research covers the areas of household finance, impact investing, entrepreneurship, corruption, and asset management. Adair is the 2019 recipient of the Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Julia W. Sze, CFA is Professional Faculty at Berkeley Haas and teaches Impact Startup Launchpad and the Sustainable Investment Fund. Julia started her career in Hong Kong and managed the first Greater China Fund, a long/short Asian equities hedge fund, as well as award winning portfolios across Asia, Global Gold, and Australia and New Zealand. After over a decade as an equities specialist, she moved into wealth management and acted as CIO to foundations and family offices, managing money across all asset classes and geographies. Since 2008, she has been at the forefront of the impact investing field, helping to create new products, measure and report on impact, and identify solutions to ongoing challenges in an emerging field. Julia holds a B.A. in Economics and an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Stanford University.

Sam Olesky is the founder and Managing Member of Olesky Capital Management, LLC an independent investment advisory firm that conducts principal investing and trading. Sam has been teaching at Haas for over a dozen years and has covered Hedge Funds, Investment Strategies, Asset Allocation and Portfolio Management. Prior to founding Olesky Capital in 1998, Sam served as the First Vice President at TD Ameritrade. Sam holds a BS in Economics and Computer Science from New York University.