Global ESG Summit 2023 - APAC Edition
Virtual | Putting ESG credit risks into context
Fossil fuel-driven growth exposes the Asia-Pacific region to acute carbon transition risk. Investors, businesses and regulators are treading a delicate balance between economic growth and transition considerations on the path to net zero. The regional sustainable finance market has expanded rapidly in recent years, and the transition funding needs remain large.
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Agenda09.35SGT
Fireside chat: Asia’s surging sustainable finance market supports sustainable development amid challenges
- What is the role of finance in meeting Asia’s sustainable development objectives?
- Will the emergence of different taxonomies and standards accelerate or complicate the region’s net zero transition?
- How can Asia scale its green and sustainable debt markets, while ensuring market integrity?
10.10SGT -
SpeakersHELGE MUENKEL Chief Sustainability Officer DBS Bank
Eric Nietsch, CFA Head of Sustainable Investing, Asia Manulife Investment Management
Yuki Yasui Managing Director, Asia Pacific Network Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ)
Michael West President Moody's Ratings
Wendy Cheong Managing Director – Regional Head of Asia Pacific Moody's Ratings
Ray Tay Associate Managing Director, Project and Infrastructure Finance Moody's Ratings
John Wang Vice President – Senior Analyst, Sustainable Finance Thought Leadership Moody's Ratings
Rahul Ghosh Managing Director – Global Head of Sustainable Finance Moody’s Ratings
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Mr. West has served as President of Moody’s Ratings since November 2019. Mike served as Managing Director—Head of MIS Ratings and Research from June 2016 to October 2019. Previously, Mike served as Managing Director—Head of Global Structured Finance from February 2014 to May 2016 and Managing Director—Head of Global Corporate Finance from January 2010 to January 2014. Earlier in his career, Mike was also responsible for the research strategy for the ratings businesses and before that led Corporate Finance for the EMEA Region, European Corporates and the EMEA leveraged finance business. Prior to joining Moody’s in 1998, Mike worked at Bank of America and HSBC in various credit roles.
Helge is the Chief Sustainability Officer at DBS. He is responsible for developing DBS’ overarching sustainability framework and driving ESG initiatives across the bank. He also chairs the DBS Sustainability Council, which comprises senior leaders across business and support units.
Prior to joining DBS, Helge was Head of Asia Pacific, Sustainable Finance and Global Capital Markets at ING, where he worked for 10 years. In this role, he successfully grew the bank's regional business of sustainability-related advisory services and sustainable finance transactions across products. He was also part of ING’s global Sustainable Finance and Capital Markets management teams as well as the bank’s global Sustainable Finance Quality Board. Before that, he spent more than 12 years in various roles at Deutsche Bank AG and UniCredit Group being based in different cities across Europe, the US and Asia Pacific.
He also represents DBS in several global and regional working groups such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the Industry Advisory Panel of the ASEAN’s Joint Sustainable Finance Working Group and the MAS-convened Green Finance Industry Taskforce. He is also appointed as alternate director in Climate Impact X Pte Ltd, a Singapore based global carbon market and exchange.
Helge holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from Munich University (major in Developing Economics) as well as a postgraduate degree in sustainability from Cambridge University. He is also a CFA charter holder.
Wendy Cheong is a senior management and strategy professional with over 22 years of experience in leading and transforming international business operations.
She is currently Managing Director-Regional Head of Asia Pacific for Moody’s Ratings, based in Hong Kong. In this role, Wendy develops and leads Moody’s growth strategy in both developed and emerging markets in the region. Wendy is the senior representative for Moody’s in Asia Pacific and is responsible for managing regional operations, overseeing policy and regulatory outreach, coordinating Moody’s global initiatives, and providing oversight of affiliates, joint ventures and MIS domestic market strategies in the region.
Wendy joined Moody's in 2010 as an Assistant Director at Content Strategy in Moody’s Analytics, and has since held senior positions in strategy and management roles across business lines in Hong Kong and New York to build strategic vision, drive business growth and enhance market impact. She has served as Chief of Staff to the President of Moody’s Investors Service; Representative Director for MIS in Hong Kong, while also serving as Senior Vice President – Head of APAC Strategy & Business Management; and Director and Senior Product Strategist at Moody’s Analytics. Wendy sits as a Director on the boards of a majority of Moody’s Asia entities and affiliates in the region.
Wendy is a member of Moody’s Global Diversity Council and founded the Moody’s Women’s Employee Resource Group in Asia Pacific. She held leadership roles in several external women in finance organizations, including 100 Women in Finance and the Women in Finance Association of the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA). She is currently a member of the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN), a leading network of over 600 organizations across 34 countries that mobilizes capital for impact investing.
Before joining Moody’s, Wendy held senior strategy, sales and marketing positions at Prudential PLC, as well as at Singapore Telecoms in Hong Kong and Singapore.
She holds a BA in Southeast Asian Studies from the National University of Singapore.
Based in Singapore, Eric is responsible for setting the ESG research, integration, and active ownership agenda in Asia. In his role, Eric leads a team to research and manage investment risks and opportunities related to the sustainability strategies of companies in the region. Eric also works with Asian based portfolio managers on evaluating ESG exposures at a portfolio level. His team also develops methodologies for dedicated sustainable funds and represents Manulife IM’s ESG capabilities among the regional investment community. He chairs the Physical Risk and Resilience Working Group of the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC) and is a member of the Investment Leaders Working Group of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).
Prior to joining Manulife Investment Management, Eric led the Sustainable Finance initiatives for Asia-Pacific at S&P Global where he helped to develop and launch the ESG Evaluation Framework. He worked closely with analysts across the region to evaluate ESG exposures in corporate and infrastructure entities. Before joining the Sustainable Finance team, he covered various sectors as a credit ratings analyst at S&P in both the United States and Asia. Preceding S&P, Eric worked on an equity portfolio at Barclay’s PLC in New York, and on the special situations desk of the boutique investment bank StormHarbour Partners LP.
Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Colgate University. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Singapore.
Yuki is the Director overseeing the Asia Pacific (APAC) Network for the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) which was launched in June 2022. She is focused on bringing together the financial sector across developed and emerging APAC to accelerate an inclusive and just transition to a net-zero economy.
Prior to joining GFANZ, she was at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative for 20 years and leading its activities in Asia Pacific for the last four years. She has represented UNEP FI at all three major sustainability reporting initiatives, GRI, IIRC and SASB, at various points in time. Other projects include developing and running the UNEP FI online course on climate change for the finance sector and representation at Rio+20.
She is a qualified chartered accountant in the UK (ICAEW) and trained and worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She is currently based in Singapore and has worked in Bangkok, Geneva and London.
Yuki has a BSc honours degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford.
Ray Tay is a Associate Managing Director in Moody’s Project and Infrastructure Finance Group. Based in Singapore, Ray covers project finance, transport, utilities and other infrastructure credits in Southeast Asia and India. Ray also authors research and conducts outreach focused on topics such as project bonds and the role of funding diversity and credit enhancement in bridging the infrastructure gap, particularly in emerging markets. Ray is also a member of Moody’s APAC ESG Working Group.
Before joining Moody’s in 2012, Ray was a Director with the Global Infrastructure & Projects Group in KPMG. Ray has also worked as a Senior Business Analyst with the Singapore Power Group, focusing on regulatory economics in each of its principal local operating subsidiaries.
Ray holds a Bachelor’s in Economics with honors from the National University of Singapore.
In his role, John is involved in integrating ESG into Moody’s credit rating research and is the point person for Moody’s ESG outreach in the Asia-Pacific region. He is also responsible for publishing thematic and issuer-specific research on ESG risks relevant to credit analysis.
Prior to joining Moody’s, John was CEO of Visiondom ESG, an independent ESG consultancy in China, which helped institutional investors integrate ESG into their investment process. He also worked as an ESG specialist with Fidelity International’s Asia Stewardship and Sustainable Investing team, focusing on the Greater China and Oceania markets for five years. At Fidelity, he was closely involved in promoting ESG best practices in Asia and ESG integration, and had a special focus on corporate governance and carbon trading.
John holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Singapore Management University and is a CFA Charterholder.
Rahul Ghosh is Managing Director – Global Head of Sustainable Finance for Moody's Ratings.
Rahul leads global oversight for the credit rating agency’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and outreach strategy. In this capacity, he is responsible for co-ordinating high quality and impactful research exploring the credit implications of ESG, as well as digital and in-person outreach to meet the growing market needs of investors, issuers and other important stakeholders.
Rahul is a regular participant at high-profile industry working groups, market briefings, external conferences and media engagements. He is a member of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, a market-led initiative to develop a risk management and disclosure framework for nature-related risks. He has also represented Moody’s on the UN Principles for Responsible Investment's advisory committee on credit ratings and the Green and Social Bond Principles working groups. He has presented on the impact of climate change on emerging market sovereigns at the G20 Green Finance Study Group and on sustainable finance trends at the International Finance Corporation’s Global Debt Mobilization Conference.
Before his current role, Rahul oversaw Moody’s ESG Solutions Group outreach and engagement activities globally with the sustainability stakeholder community. He also previously worked in Moody’s Credit Strategy & Research team where he was responsible for thematic research and outreach on global emerging market (EM) credit trends. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2013, Rahul was the Head of Asia at BMI Research (Fitch Solutions) in Singapore, leading a team of macroeconomists and industry specialists in analysing sovereign risk, sector performance and the capital markets.
Rahul is a passionate impact leader for Moody’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in London, chairing the pillar on “activating an environmentally sustainable future”. He holds a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Edinburgh and a Certificate in ESG Investing from the CFA Society of the UK.
Rahul Ghosh is Managing Director – Global Head of Sustainable Finance for Moody's Ratings.
Rahul leads global oversight for the credit rating agency’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and outreach strategy. In this capacity, he is responsible for co-ordinating high quality and impactful research exploring the credit implications of ESG, as well as digital and in-person outreach to meet the growing market needs of investors, issuers and other important stakeholders.
Rahul is a regular participant at high-profile industry working groups, market briefings, external conferences and media engagements. He is a member of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, a market-led initiative to develop a risk management and disclosure framework for nature-related risks. He has also represented Moody’s on the UN Principles for Responsible Investment's advisory committee on credit ratings and the Green and Social Bond Principles working groups. He has presented on the impact of climate change on emerging market sovereigns at the G20 Green Finance Study Group and on sustainable finance trends at the International Finance Corporation’s Global Debt Mobilization Conference.
Before his current role, Rahul oversaw Moody’s ESG Solutions Group outreach and engagement activities globally with the sustainability stakeholder community. He also previously worked in Moody’s Credit Strategy & Research team where he was responsible for thematic research and outreach on global emerging market (EM) credit trends. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2013, Rahul was the Head of Asia at BMI Research (Fitch Solutions) in Singapore, leading a team of macroeconomists and industry specialists in analysing sovereign risk, sector performance and the capital markets.
Rahul is a passionate impact leader for Moody’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in London, chairing the pillar on “activating an environmentally sustainable future”. He holds a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Edinburgh and a Certificate in ESG Investing from the CFA Society of the UK.
Helge is the Chief Sustainability Officer at DBS. He is responsible for developing DBS’ overarching sustainability framework and driving ESG initiatives across the bank. He also chairs the DBS Sustainability Council, which comprises senior leaders across business and support units.
Prior to joining DBS, Helge was Head of Asia Pacific, Sustainable Finance and Global Capital Markets at ING, where he worked for 10 years. In this role, he successfully grew the bank's regional business of sustainability-related advisory services and sustainable finance transactions across products. He was also part of ING’s global Sustainable Finance and Capital Markets management teams as well as the bank’s global Sustainable Finance Quality Board. Before that, he spent more than 12 years in various roles at Deutsche Bank AG and UniCredit Group being based in different cities across Europe, the US and Asia Pacific.
He also represents DBS in several global and regional working groups such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the Industry Advisory Panel of the ASEAN’s Joint Sustainable Finance Working Group and the MAS-convened Green Finance Industry Taskforce. He is also appointed as alternate director in Climate Impact X Pte Ltd, a Singapore based global carbon market and exchange.
Helge holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from Munich University (major in Developing Economics) as well as a postgraduate degree in sustainability from Cambridge University. He is also a CFA charter holder.
Based in Singapore, Eric is responsible for setting the ESG research, integration, and active ownership agenda in Asia. In his role, Eric leads a team to research and manage investment risks and opportunities related to the sustainability strategies of companies in the region. Eric also works with Asian based portfolio managers on evaluating ESG exposures at a portfolio level. His team also develops methodologies for dedicated sustainable funds and represents Manulife IM’s ESG capabilities among the regional investment community. He chairs the Physical Risk and Resilience Working Group of the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC) and is a member of the Investment Leaders Working Group of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).
Prior to joining Manulife Investment Management, Eric led the Sustainable Finance initiatives for Asia-Pacific at S&P Global where he helped to develop and launch the ESG Evaluation Framework. He worked closely with analysts across the region to evaluate ESG exposures in corporate and infrastructure entities. Before joining the Sustainable Finance team, he covered various sectors as a credit ratings analyst at S&P in both the United States and Asia. Preceding S&P, Eric worked on an equity portfolio at Barclay’s PLC in New York, and on the special situations desk of the boutique investment bank StormHarbour Partners LP.
Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Colgate University. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Singapore.
Yuki is the Director overseeing the Asia Pacific (APAC) Network for the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) which was launched in June 2022. She is focused on bringing together the financial sector across developed and emerging APAC to accelerate an inclusive and just transition to a net-zero economy.
Prior to joining GFANZ, she was at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative for 20 years and leading its activities in Asia Pacific for the last four years. She has represented UNEP FI at all three major sustainability reporting initiatives, GRI, IIRC and SASB, at various points in time. Other projects include developing and running the UNEP FI online course on climate change for the finance sector and representation at Rio+20.
She is a qualified chartered accountant in the UK (ICAEW) and trained and worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She is currently based in Singapore and has worked in Bangkok, Geneva and London.
Yuki has a BSc honours degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford.
Mr. West has served as President of Moody’s Ratings since November 2019. Mike served as Managing Director—Head of MIS Ratings and Research from June 2016 to October 2019. Previously, Mike served as Managing Director—Head of Global Structured Finance from February 2014 to May 2016 and Managing Director—Head of Global Corporate Finance from January 2010 to January 2014. Earlier in his career, Mike was also responsible for the research strategy for the ratings businesses and before that led Corporate Finance for the EMEA Region, European Corporates and the EMEA leveraged finance business. Prior to joining Moody’s in 1998, Mike worked at Bank of America and HSBC in various credit roles.
Wendy Cheong is a senior management and strategy professional with over 22 years of experience in leading and transforming international business operations.
She is currently Managing Director-Regional Head of Asia Pacific for Moody’s Ratings, based in Hong Kong. In this role, Wendy develops and leads Moody’s growth strategy in both developed and emerging markets in the region. Wendy is the senior representative for Moody’s in Asia Pacific and is responsible for managing regional operations, overseeing policy and regulatory outreach, coordinating Moody’s global initiatives, and providing oversight of affiliates, joint ventures and MIS domestic market strategies in the region.
Wendy joined Moody's in 2010 as an Assistant Director at Content Strategy in Moody’s Analytics, and has since held senior positions in strategy and management roles across business lines in Hong Kong and New York to build strategic vision, drive business growth and enhance market impact. She has served as Chief of Staff to the President of Moody’s Investors Service; Representative Director for MIS in Hong Kong, while also serving as Senior Vice President – Head of APAC Strategy & Business Management; and Director and Senior Product Strategist at Moody’s Analytics. Wendy sits as a Director on the boards of a majority of Moody’s Asia entities and affiliates in the region.
Wendy is a member of Moody’s Global Diversity Council and founded the Moody’s Women’s Employee Resource Group in Asia Pacific. She held leadership roles in several external women in finance organizations, including 100 Women in Finance and the Women in Finance Association of the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA). She is currently a member of the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN), a leading network of over 600 organizations across 34 countries that mobilizes capital for impact investing.
Before joining Moody’s, Wendy held senior strategy, sales and marketing positions at Prudential PLC, as well as at Singapore Telecoms in Hong Kong and Singapore.
She holds a BA in Southeast Asian Studies from the National University of Singapore.
Ray Tay is a Associate Managing Director in Moody’s Project and Infrastructure Finance Group. Based in Singapore, Ray covers project finance, transport, utilities and other infrastructure credits in Southeast Asia and India. Ray also authors research and conducts outreach focused on topics such as project bonds and the role of funding diversity and credit enhancement in bridging the infrastructure gap, particularly in emerging markets. Ray is also a member of Moody’s APAC ESG Working Group.
Before joining Moody’s in 2012, Ray was a Director with the Global Infrastructure & Projects Group in KPMG. Ray has also worked as a Senior Business Analyst with the Singapore Power Group, focusing on regulatory economics in each of its principal local operating subsidiaries.
Ray holds a Bachelor’s in Economics with honors from the National University of Singapore.
In his role, John is involved in integrating ESG into Moody’s credit rating research and is the point person for Moody’s ESG outreach in the Asia-Pacific region. He is also responsible for publishing thematic and issuer-specific research on ESG risks relevant to credit analysis.
Prior to joining Moody’s, John was CEO of Visiondom ESG, an independent ESG consultancy in China, which helped institutional investors integrate ESG into their investment process. He also worked as an ESG specialist with Fidelity International’s Asia Stewardship and Sustainable Investing team, focusing on the Greater China and Oceania markets for five years. At Fidelity, he was closely involved in promoting ESG best practices in Asia and ESG integration, and had a special focus on corporate governance and carbon trading.
John holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Singapore Management University and is a CFA Charterholder.
Rahul Ghosh is Managing Director – Global Head of Sustainable Finance for Moody's Ratings.
Rahul leads global oversight for the credit rating agency’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and outreach strategy. In this capacity, he is responsible for co-ordinating high quality and impactful research exploring the credit implications of ESG, as well as digital and in-person outreach to meet the growing market needs of investors, issuers and other important stakeholders.
Rahul is a regular participant at high-profile industry working groups, market briefings, external conferences and media engagements. He is a member of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, a market-led initiative to develop a risk management and disclosure framework for nature-related risks. He has also represented Moody’s on the UN Principles for Responsible Investment's advisory committee on credit ratings and the Green and Social Bond Principles working groups. He has presented on the impact of climate change on emerging market sovereigns at the G20 Green Finance Study Group and on sustainable finance trends at the International Finance Corporation’s Global Debt Mobilization Conference.
Before his current role, Rahul oversaw Moody’s ESG Solutions Group outreach and engagement activities globally with the sustainability stakeholder community. He also previously worked in Moody’s Credit Strategy & Research team where he was responsible for thematic research and outreach on global emerging market (EM) credit trends. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2013, Rahul was the Head of Asia at BMI Research (Fitch Solutions) in Singapore, leading a team of macroeconomists and industry specialists in analysing sovereign risk, sector performance and the capital markets.
Rahul is a passionate impact leader for Moody’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in London, chairing the pillar on “activating an environmentally sustainable future”. He holds a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Edinburgh and a Certificate in ESG Investing from the CFA Society of the UK.