ESG Talks

In this episode of ESG Talks, Yee Cent Wong, a Senior Managing Director in KBRA’s Dublin office, interviews Peter Cosmetatos. Peter has been involved in the commercial real estate industry in one way or another for nearly 20 years and is currently the CEO of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (CREFC) Europe.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Cecil Smart, Managing Director in KBRA’s ABS Commercial team, interviews Alfred Griffin, President of NY Green Bank. Griffin provides an overview of how NY Green Bank works with the private sector to promote clean energy across the state.

In this episode of ESG talks, KBRA’s Chief Strategist, Van Hesser, interviews Gray Schweitzer, Head of the US Financial Institutions Group Debt Capital Markets at HSBC. Van and Gray give an overview of the basics of sustainable financing tools (Green, Social, and Sustainability Bonds), speak about how issuers approach ESG, and the implications of the 2020 election cycle on the future of ESG.

In this episode, KBRA’s Head of Europe, Mauricio Noé interviews Jeremy Coller, Chief Investment Officer and Chairman of Coller Capital. Mauricio and Jeremy speak about the importance of ESG integration in investment decisions and Jeremy’s initiative, Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return (FAIRR), which is a global network of investors seeking to minimize risks in animal production and food supply chains.

This ESG Talks podcast episode features KBRA Head of Aviation, Transportation, and Commercial Finance, Marjan Riggi, and Jill Blickstein, the Head of ESG at American Airlines. In this episode, the two executives discuss how the pandemic has realigned ESG priorities in the industry and the path to making global aviation more sustainable.

In this episode of ESG Talks, KBRA’s CEO, Jim Nadler interviews KBRA board member, Lois Scott, on trends in corporate diversity and inclusion initiatives. Lois has held various roles in both the private and public sectors throughout her extensive career. From 2011 to 2015, Lois served as CFO for the city of Chicago under Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and was the first woman to serve in that capacity. Lois has long been a champion for women in business and was one of the co-founders of the professional organization, Women in Public Finance. Today, Lois is president of Epoch Advisors and serves on various corporate boards, including KBRA. She is also involved with many charities and other philanthropic causes.

This episode of ESG Talks features the perspectives of the environmental advocacy community in Washington, D.C. Courtney Taylor, a Partner at Cypress Group who focuses on environmental law and regulation, interviews the Environmental Defense Fund’s Senior Director for Strategic Planning, Elgie Holstein. Courtney and Elgie are both Washington insiders, having worked in the capital for years. Courtney held positions at the Environmental Defense Fund, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Interior, while Elgie served in various roles under President Clinton and worked as a senior adviser for energy during President Obama’s election campaign. Courtney and Elgie discuss how the pandemic is affecting environmental policy priorities, their strategies for the 2020 election, and how the financial industry can help create a more sustainable world.

Our inaugural episode focuses on cybersecurity, a prominent governance risk within the ESG framework. Bill Cox, Global Head of Corporate, Financial and Government Ratings at KBRA interviews KBRA’s Chairman and founder, Jules Kroll, the pioneer of the modern investigations, intelligence, and corporate security industry. “What we have today is we have more violations of privacy, we have more stealing, we have more involvements with nation-states—either directly or through proxies,” Kroll said. “That’s why it feels like there’s a lot more going on because there is a lot more going on.”