Investor Sustainability Engagement
Thursday, 23 June 2022
12:00 – 19:00 CEST
Friday, 24 June 2022
08:45 – 17:00 CEST
Location
University of Amsterdam | Online
Roeterseiland campus, A building, room A2.09
Organisers
Anne Lafarre (Tilburg University & ACLE)
Suren Gomtsian (University of Leeds & ACLE)
Alessio M. Pacces (University of Amsterdam, ACLE & ECGI)
Supported by
University of Amsterdam - Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics and Amsterdam Centre for Transformative Private Law
University of Leeds - Centre for Business Law and Practice and Michael Beverley Innovation Fellowship Programme
Tilburg University - The Dutch Research Council (NWO)
About the Event
Recent years have witnessed a growing pressure on corporations to act more responsibly towards stakeholders other than shareholders. Demands for more responsible behaviour are coming from different sides, including from institutional investors who have become large shareholders in many corporations around the world. Powerful institutional shareholders are at the centre of private actor-led efforts to make businesses more sustainable.
Institutional shareholders, however, face many challenges in engaging with portfolio firms. Effective engagement requires a good understanding of target companies, their businesses and the relevant trade-offs, more clarity about the meaning of corporate sustainability, and the availability of credible information about business practices. Questions also remain about the incentives of institutional shareholders to drive changes in corporate behaviours and about the overall impact of investor sustainability engagement.
The conference on Investor Sustainability Engagement answered these questions by bringing together world-class scholars from law, corporate finance and economics, and leading practitioners from different sectors. This hybrid conference took place at the University of Amsterdam, in person, and virtually over Zoom on June 23-24, 2022. There were sessions with presentations of academic papers and a roundtable discussion on investor sustainability engagement by experts from the investor community, consultants, and charities.
Information

Thursday, 23 June 2022 | 12:00 CEST
Welcome and light lunch
Panel 1: Regulation of corporate purpose
Moderator:
Panelists:
Panel 1: Regulation of corporate purpose
: Topics-
1. General trends on the regulation of corporate purpose
2. EU Directive of February 2022 on corporate sustainability due diligence
Speakers (Papers):
- Colin Mayer (Oxford), Committing to Corporate Purpose
- Kobi Kastiel (Tel Aviv), Stakeholder Capitalism in the Time of COVID: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4026803
- Beate Sjåfjell (Oslo), Duties of the Corporate Board and the new Directive Proposal
- Amir Licht (Herzliya) – Shareholders and Stakeholders around the World: The Role of Values, Culture, and Law in Director’s Decisions: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3766934
Moderator
Panelists
Panel 2: Corporate sustainability in the Netherlands
Moderator:
Panelists:
Panel 2: Corporate sustainability in the Netherlands
Topics:
- Corporate purpose in the Netherlands
- New corporate governance code
Speakers: (papers)
- Mieke Olaerts (Maastricht), Purpose and Sustainability Embedding in Dutch Listed Companies: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3957250
- Christoph Van der Elst (Tilburg), Shareholder Engagement in Dutch AGMs
- Jaap Winter (UvA), The Duty of Societal Responsibility of the Board: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3574681
Moderator
Panelists
Break
Expert Roundtable on Sustainability Engagements
Moderator:
Panelists:
Expert Roundtable on Sustainability Engagements
Moderator
Panelists
Panel 3: Stewardship Reporting and Sustainability Engagement in the shadow of voting
Moderator:
Panelists:
Panel 3: Stewardship Reporting and Sustainability Engagement in the shadow of voting
Topics:
- Evidence on the preferences and the behaviour of institutional investors
- The role of pension funds
- Shareholder-sponsored sustainability-related proposals
Speakers: (papers)
- Dionysia Katelouzou (KCL), The Rhetoric of Activist Shareholder Stewards: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4057118
- Rieneke Slager (RuG), Collaborative Shareholder Engagement: examples from the PRI
- Anne Lafarre (Tilburg), Do Institutional Investors Vote Responsibly?: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4042907
Moderator
Panelists
Conference Dinner (by invitation)
Friday, 24 June 2022 | 08:45 CEST
Welcome
Panel 4: Stewardship Codes for Sustainability Engagement
Moderator:
Panel 4: Stewardship Codes for Sustainability Engagement
Topics:
- New generation stewardship codes with stronger focus on sustainability
- The effectiveness of institutional investor engagement and the role of stewardship codes
Speakers: (papers)
- Jennifer Hill (Monash), Stewardship Codes, ESG Activism, and Transnational Ordering
-
Giovanni Strampelli (Bocconi), Institutional Investor Engagement and Investees’ ESG Performances: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4011957
- Konstantinos Sergakis (Glasgow), Stewardship Codes, Democratisation of Sustainable Investment and Shareholder Personhood
Moderator
Panelists
Short Break
Panel 5: Challenges of Investor Sustainability Engagement
Moderator:
Panelists:
Panel 5: Challenges of Investor Sustainability Engagement
Topics:
- Green transition and greenwashing
- Common ownership
- Legislative and private ordering solutions
Speakers: (papers)
- Alessio Pacces (UvA), The Tension between Investor Engagement and the Management Vision on Sustainability
- Virginia Harper Ho (CUHK), Informational Challenges of Investor Stewardship in the Sustainable Finance Transition
- Luca Enriques (Oxford) Dual Class Shares in the Age of Common Ownership: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4046244
Moderator
Panelists
Lunch break
Panel 6: Can Investor-Led Sustainability Succeed?
Moderator:
Panelists:
Panel 6: Can Investor-Led Sustainability Succeed?
Topics:
-
Impact of investor engagements on sustainability
-
The role of hedge funds in sustainable capitalism
-
Collective investor engagement
Speakers: (papers)
- Roberto Tallarita (Harvard), The Limits of Portfolio Primacy: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3912977
- Anna Christie (Edinburgh), ESG Hedge Fund Activism: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3766478
- Kevin Chuah (LBS), Collective Shareholder Activism on ESG Issues
Moderator
Panelists
Short Break
Panel 7: The Role of Incentives in the Sustainability Revolution
Moderator:
Panelists:
Panel 7: The Role of Incentives in the Sustainability Revolution
Topics:
- Commitments to sustainability
- Shareholder preferences over executive compensation
- Sustainability targets and executive pay
Speakers:
- Thom Wetzer (Oxford) Green Pills: Making Corporate Carbon Commitments Credible
- Tom Gosling (LBS), Paying Well by Paying for Good: Can Executive Pay Support Sustainability?
- Suren Gomtsian (Leeds), Executive Compensation and Shareholder Preferences
- Antje Stobbe (Allianz GI Sustainability Team)
- Janet Visbeen (PwC)
Moderator
Panelists
Closing
Speakers
Panel Discussions
Panel 1: Regulation of corporate purpose
Panel 1: Regulation of corporate purpose
: Topics-
1. General trends on the regulation of corporate purpose
2. EU Directive of February 2022 on corporate sustainability due diligence
Speakers (Papers):
- Colin Mayer (Oxford), Committing to Corporate Purpose
- Kobi Kastiel (Tel Aviv), Stakeholder Capitalism in the Time of COVID: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4026803
- Beate Sjåfjell (Oslo), Duties of the Corporate Board and the new Directive Proposal
- Amir Licht (Herzliya) – Shareholders and Stakeholders around the World: The Role of Values, Culture, and Law in Director’s Decisions: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3766934
Moderator
Panelists
Panel 2: Corporate sustainability in the Netherlands
Panel 2: Corporate sustainability in the Netherlands
Topics:
- Corporate purpose in the Netherlands
- New corporate governance code
Speakers: (papers)
- Mieke Olaerts (Maastricht), Purpose and Sustainability Embedding in Dutch Listed Companies: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3957250
- Christoph Van der Elst (Tilburg), Shareholder Engagement in Dutch AGMs
- Jaap Winter (UvA), The Duty of Societal Responsibility of the Board: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3574681
Moderator
Panelists
Expert Roundtable on Sustainability Engagements
Expert Roundtable on Sustainability Engagements
Moderator
Panelists
Panel 3: Stewardship Reporting and Sustainability Engagement in the shadow of voting
Panel 3: Stewardship Reporting and Sustainability Engagement in the shadow of voting
Topics:
- Evidence on the preferences and the behaviour of institutional investors
- The role of pension funds
- Shareholder-sponsored sustainability-related proposals
Speakers: (papers)
- Dionysia Katelouzou (KCL), The Rhetoric of Activist Shareholder Stewards: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4057118
- Rieneke Slager (RuG), Collaborative Shareholder Engagement: examples from the PRI
- Anne Lafarre (Tilburg), Do Institutional Investors Vote Responsibly?: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4042907
Moderator
Panelists
Panel 4: Stewardship Codes for Sustainability Engagement
Panel 4: Stewardship Codes for Sustainability Engagement
Topics:
- New generation stewardship codes with stronger focus on sustainability
- The effectiveness of institutional investor engagement and the role of stewardship codes
Speakers: (papers)
- Jennifer Hill (Monash), Stewardship Codes, ESG Activism, and Transnational Ordering
-
Giovanni Strampelli (Bocconi), Institutional Investor Engagement and Investees’ ESG Performances: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4011957
- Konstantinos Sergakis (Glasgow), Stewardship Codes, Democratisation of Sustainable Investment and Shareholder Personhood
Moderator
Panelists
Panel 5: Challenges of Investor Sustainability Engagement
Panel 5: Challenges of Investor Sustainability Engagement
Topics:
- Green transition and greenwashing
- Common ownership
- Legislative and private ordering solutions
Speakers: (papers)
- Alessio Pacces (UvA), The Tension between Investor Engagement and the Management Vision on Sustainability
- Virginia Harper Ho (CUHK), Informational Challenges of Investor Stewardship in the Sustainable Finance Transition
- Luca Enriques (Oxford) Dual Class Shares in the Age of Common Ownership: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4046244
Moderator
Panelists
Panel 6: Can Investor-Led Sustainability Succeed?
Panel 6: Can Investor-Led Sustainability Succeed?
Topics:
-
Impact of investor engagements on sustainability
-
The role of hedge funds in sustainable capitalism
-
Collective investor engagement
Speakers: (papers)
- Roberto Tallarita (Harvard), The Limits of Portfolio Primacy: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3912977
- Anna Christie (Edinburgh), ESG Hedge Fund Activism: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3766478
- Kevin Chuah (LBS), Collective Shareholder Activism on ESG Issues
Moderator
Panelists
Panel 7: The Role of Incentives in the Sustainability Revolution
Panel 7: The Role of Incentives in the Sustainability Revolution
Topics:
- Commitments to sustainability
- Shareholder preferences over executive compensation
- Sustainability targets and executive pay
Speakers:
- Thom Wetzer (Oxford) Green Pills: Making Corporate Carbon Commitments Credible
- Tom Gosling (LBS), Paying Well by Paying for Good: Can Executive Pay Support Sustainability?
- Suren Gomtsian (Leeds), Executive Compensation and Shareholder Preferences
- Antje Stobbe (Allianz GI Sustainability Team)
- Janet Visbeen (PwC)