Focus on SRI at CLSA Investors Conference in Hong Kong

ASrIA hosted a workshop on "How to Practise Sustainable and Responsible Investment" at the CLSA forum last month. This event is the region's largest investment gathering, attracting hundreds of investors and companies. The workshop followed a full plenary panel session on SRI, chaired by ASrIA Adviser Christine Loh. It is the first time CLSA has included SRI on the conference agenda.

The ASrIA workshop was aimed at those who wished to understand the mechanics of SRI. With standing room only, the turnout was beyond our expectations. The discussion was equally rewarding. At the table were a cast of characters who were all actively engaged in SRI in Asia, including two potential fund managers and a major benchmarker. The conversation started by focusing on the difficulties of practicing SRI in a marketplace where information is at a premium. It was noted that there is a huge task just trying to encourage corporate transparency without offending corporate sensitivities. For this to happen it would be important to frame sustainability in Asian terms. However it was agreed that a multi-stakeholder effort at improving transparency would help and this might be a process which ASrIA could lead.

The Panel session, titled 'Socially Responsible Investments - dispelling the myths', included two representatives of controversial corporations Shell and Nike, and also William Fung of Li & Fung, a major Hong Kong listed company and agent which represents thousands of manufacturing plants throughout Asia on behalf of Western clients, such as Nike. Alya Kayal SRI research analyst from the Calvert Group USA, provided a valuable SRI perspective. The session was very well attended and there were many questions from the floor. Although most of the questions on SRI focused on the obstacles to SRI in Asia and the manner in which SRI in Asia might be different from SRI in the west, more than one local money manager got up to express a strong interest in integrating SRI in some form into their investment process. A primary message to come out of the panel discussion, as from the ASrIA workshop, was the importance of encouraging corporate transparency, and that genuine corporate transparency and a will to confront the issues would go a long way towards satisfying SRI proponents.