Swami Venkataraman, CFA Associate Managing Director, Sustainable Finance, Global Head of Assessments Moody's Ratings

Swami Venkataraman, CFA, is an Associate Managing Director in the Sustainable Finance group at Moody's Ratings. He manages a global team of analysts responsible for producing assessments and thematic research on the credentials of sustainability debt instruments and financing frameworks (Second Party Opinions) and the strength of entities carbon transition plans (Net Zero Assessments). He also leads related outreach efforts for Moody's with regulators, standard setters, investors, corporates and other market participants.

Swami regularly participates in high-profile working groups, conferences and media engagements. He is a member of the International Energy Agency's Finance Industry Advisory Board, the Institute for International Finance's (IIF) Sustainable Finance Working Group, the Executive Committee of the ESG Integrated Disclosure Project (IDP) for private capital markets and manages key external relationships for Moody's such as the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and Ceres. He has presented on climate finance topics at the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) and at various initiatives of the World Bank.

Prior to this role, Swami led the team responsible for the systematic integration of ESG considerations - including climate - into all Moody's credit ratings and the launch of the Moody's Issuer Profile Scores (IPS) and Credit Impact Scores (CIS). Earlier, he was a Senior Vice President in the North American utilities and infrastructure team, with rating committee chair responsibilities. Before Joining Moody's in 2013, Swami was a Director of Project and Export finance with Standard Chartered bank in Asia. He has broad credit and banking expertise in power, clean energy, infrastructure and sustainable finance for over 25 years. He has worked in New York, San Francisco, London, Mumbai and Mexico City.

Swami is a CFA charter holder, with a B.Tech in Electronics Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),  Madras and an M.B.A. in Finance and Information systems from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM),Calcutta.

Rebecca Karnovitz Vice President - Senior Credit Officer, Sustainable Finance Group Moody’s Ratings

Rebecca is a Vice President – Senior Credit Officer in Moody’s Sustainable Finance group, where she leads thought leadership on the impact of environmental, social and governance factors on credit and capital markets. In her role, Rebecca is responsible for the coordination and execution of the Sustainable Finance group’s thematic research program and market outreach activities. She also serves as a visible subject matter expert to internal and external stakeholders and supports outreach and engagement with strategic partners.

Prior to joining the ESG team, Rebecca was a member of the Strategy and Research team at MIS, where she led cross-sector research and analytics on the credit implications of key macroeconomic and policy developments in North America. Rebecca first joined Moody’s in 2011 as an associate analyst in the Sovereign Risk Group.

She holds a dual Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University (SIPA), in New York, and Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po), in Paris, as well as a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

Matt Kuchtyak Vice President – Sustainable Finance Moody's Ratings

Matt Kuchtyak is Vice President – Sustainable Finance for Moody’s Ratings. In this capacity, Matt is responsible for the origination and publication of thematic research related to the global sustainable finance markets. He has authored Moody’s market-leading quarterly sustainable finance market update since its inception in 2015 and has developed into a leading market voice on sustainable finance developments.

Matt leads outreach and engagement on sustainable finance issues, cultivating relationships with asset managers, asset owners, financial institutions, corporations, standard setters and other market participants. He frequently participates in high-profile outreach including investor briefings, webinars, third-party conferences and media engagements. Matt also represents MESG on a variety of industry initiatives, such as the International Capital Market Association’s Green Bond Principles (GBP) working groups.

Before his current role, Matt was an analyst on the ESG team at Moody’s Investors Service (MIS), where he advanced the rating agency’s efforts to systematically and transparently incorporate ESG considerations into its credit ratings. He was a key contributor to the development of MIS’s cross-sector ESG methodology, launch of ESG Issuer Profile Scores and Credit Impact Scores and the development of Carbon Transition Assessments. He was also the lead analyst for the MIS Green Bond Assessments. Previously, Matt was an analyst in the MIS US Public Finance Group, where he served as a lead analyst for a diverse portfolio of hospitals, public and private universities and other not-for-profits.

Matt is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) impact leader, working directly with Moody’s CSR team to shape, communicate and implement the firm's global CSR strategy and initiatives. He holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science summa cum laude from Rutgers University-New Brunswick, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.