- Best practices and quick wins from the early rounds of climate stress testing internationally
- Increasing climate risk model robustness and improving accuracy
- Analysing the results of first round climate risk stress tests to promote further improvements in model risk development programs
- Understanding future requirements for US banks
- Build out ESG Risk modelling teams accordingly
- Assessing what good looks like and how to measure effectively
- Creating an ESG risk appetite
- Implementing ESG Risk into wider business decision making
- Addressing the ongoing challenges of climate risk management within institutions
- Accounting for the S and the G as much as the E for a competent approach
- Creating comprehensive education programs from the board down
- Educating the institution on the current priorities of ESG risk management programs
- Informing decision making throughout other functions of the institution
- Overcoming changing market and consumer sentiment and their impact on reputation
- Mitigating increasing reputational and conduct risk rising from enhanced regulatory scrutiny
- Avoiding reputational damage from perceived greenwashing
Panellists
Jennifer Sullo
Managing Director of Asset Management and Investment Solutions
Earth Finance
Jen Sullo is Managing Director of Asset Management and Investment Solutions at Earth Finance. She brings significant expertise integrating sustainability into portfolio construction, investment, and due diligence processes as well as creating tailored, client-specific sustainable investment funds for private wealth and institutional investors – including corporate retirement plans, insurance reserves, non-profit investment portfolios, and financial intermediary platforms. Prior to Earth Finance, Jen was Global Head of Sustainable Investing Solutions at Goldman Sachs Asset Management where she was responsible for sustainable investing strategy, product development, and partnerships. She graduated from Fairfield University with an M.S. in Finance and from Trinity College with a B.S. in Economics.
Kirby Brendsel
Vice President ESG and Sustainability Director
Flagstar Bank
Kirby Brendsel is Flagstar Bank’s VP, Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) and Sustainability Director, where he leads Flagstar's strategic sustainability and initiatives and the company's goal to be a recognized global sustainability leader. He is coming from Welltower Inc.’s (a real estate investment trust) where he headed their award-winning strategic sustainability and ESG initiatives. Prior to joining Welltower in 2019, Mr. Brendsel worked at Nuveen as a Director of Responsible Investing. Before Nuveen, he served as Associate Director of Sustainability for Starwood Hotel & Resorts Worldwide, where he supported the strategy, integration and management of Starwood’s sustainability program and worked collaboratively with the community programs/Starwood Foundation team on CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) strategy and reporting. Previously, Mr. Brendsel consulted for Deloitte where he assisted in the creation of Deloitte’s Federal Sustainability practice and Diversity & Inclusion program. Mr. Brendsel’s other past roles include active-duty service as a Military Intelligence Corps Major in the U.S. Army.
Mr. Brendsel graduated with distinction and honors from the College of William and Mary with a B.A. in Business and the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University with an M.B.A. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED Green Associate (GA), and Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt. Mr. Brendsel was recently recognized as an Honoree for 2020 by Environment + Energy Leader’s annual "best of" list of environment and energy professionals - the E+E 100.
Mr. Brendsel is active in his local community, where he has served on the Board of Directors of the Aspetuck Land Trust and Lachat Town Farm Commission as well as on the Town of Weston’s Sustainability Committee, Historical Society, and Conservation and Parks & Recreation Commissions.
Laura Nishikawa
Managing Director of ESG Research
MSCI ESG Research
- Incorporating climate and ESG into day-to-day risk management practices
- Understanding how physical and transition risk integrate into existing risk silos
- Determining reporting lines and the ownership of risk
Moderator
Carlotta Franchin
Managing Director ESG and Climate Risk Advisory
Forvis
Carlotta Franchin is a Managing Director in the ESG & Climate Risk Advisory practice at FORVIS. Leveraging her extensive experience in financial services across advisory and corporate roles, she helps organizations define and execute their ESG framework. She currently supports Financed Emissions and Net Zero Programs management, as well as ESG Risk and regulatory compliance programs, physical and transition risk assessments, DEI risk assessments, and solutioning at large financial institutions. Carlotta is an Associate Board Member at IDiF, a non-profit organization focused on increasing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Asset Management. She holds a Sustainable Finance Certificate of Professional Achievement from Columbia University and a Sustainability & Climate Risk GARP Certificate.
Panelists
Emily Westendorf
Vice President, ERM Program Manager
Fifth Third Bank
Emily Westendorf serves as vice president and ERM program manager. She is responsible for establishment of the climate risk program including execution of climate scenario analysis, design of a data strategy, and climate-related communications.
Emily previously served in multiple operational risk roles including Scenario Analysis Program Manager, KRI Program Manager, Operational Risk Governance Manager. In these roles, Emily managed integration of key risk indicators from the MB Financial merger, enhanced governance protocols in alignment with Heightened Standards, and executed large scale scenarios on topics ranging from cyber to LIBOR to climate. Emily also provided second line operational risk oversight of Consumer Bank and centralized functions. Emily began her career at Fifth Third as a Learning Facilitator supporting Retail.
Andrew Brammer
Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Risk Officer
Fannie Mae
- Managing ESG risks by ensuring company practices are in line with both short and long-term, legitimate ESG goals to avoid greenwashing allegations
- Identifying industry leading standards against which to benchmark your institution
- Effectively managing data and reporting practices for climate and overall ESG risks
- Understanding how to interpret and align on ratings
- Adapting ESG risk frameworks to varying political and economic environments
- Understanding where the US fits in with international goal setting for ESG targets and adjusting ESG risk strategies accordingly
- Exploring the wider risks associated with environmental concerns beyond climate risk
- Benchmarking progress and focus of the S and G
- Understanding the social risks associated with current business risk categories
- Managing the reputational risk associated with climate and ESG
Panelists
May Hu
Head of Counterparty Risk Exposure
Capital One
Kevin Clarke
Executive Director of Group Regulatory and Governance
UBS
Erin Komorowski
Director of ESG and Sustainability
M&T Bank
Jennifer Sullo
Managing Director of Asset Management and Investment Solutions
Earth Finance
Jen Sullo is Managing Director of Asset Management and Investment Solutions at Earth Finance. She brings significant expertise integrating sustainability into portfolio construction, investment, and due diligence processes as well as creating tailored, client-specific sustainable investment funds for private wealth and institutional investors – including corporate retirement plans, insurance reserves, non-profit investment portfolios, and financial intermediary platforms. Prior to Earth Finance, Jen was Global Head of Sustainable Investing Solutions at Goldman Sachs Asset Management where she was responsible for sustainable investing strategy, product development, and partnerships. She graduated from Fairfield University with an M.S. in Finance and from Trinity College with a B.S. in Economics.
Kirby Brendsel
Vice President ESG and Sustainability Director
Flagstar Bank
Kirby Brendsel is Flagstar Bank’s VP, Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) and Sustainability Director, where he leads Flagstar's strategic sustainability and initiatives and the company's goal to be a recognized global sustainability leader. He is coming from Welltower Inc.’s (a real estate investment trust) where he headed their award-winning strategic sustainability and ESG initiatives. Prior to joining Welltower in 2019, Mr. Brendsel worked at Nuveen as a Director of Responsible Investing. Before Nuveen, he served as Associate Director of Sustainability for Starwood Hotel & Resorts Worldwide, where he supported the strategy, integration and management of Starwood’s sustainability program and worked collaboratively with the community programs/Starwood Foundation team on CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) strategy and reporting. Previously, Mr. Brendsel consulted for Deloitte where he assisted in the creation of Deloitte’s Federal Sustainability practice and Diversity & Inclusion program. Mr. Brendsel’s other past roles include active-duty service as a Military Intelligence Corps Major in the U.S. Army.
Mr. Brendsel graduated with distinction and honors from the College of William and Mary with a B.A. in Business and the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University with an M.B.A. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED Green Associate (GA), and Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt. Mr. Brendsel was recently recognized as an Honoree for 2020 by Environment + Energy Leader’s annual "best of" list of environment and energy professionals - the E+E 100.
Mr. Brendsel is active in his local community, where he has served on the Board of Directors of the Aspetuck Land Trust and Lachat Town Farm Commission as well as on the Town of Weston’s Sustainability Committee, Historical Society, and Conservation and Parks & Recreation Commissions.
Moderator
Nosa Omoigui
CEO and Founder
Weave.AI
Nosa Omoigui is the CEO and founder of Weave.AI. Prior to Weave.AI, he led machine learning and personalization teams at Amazon. Nosa also held a senior role at Microsoft Research (MSR). Nosa has a total of 23 granted patents and over 50 pending patents on various areas of technology, including AI.
- Keeping up with regulatory expectations: ensuring disclosure of data by the end of 2024
- Understanding what regulators are asking for, when they want it and how to prepare
- Benchmarking where we are, where we want to be and how we get there