Past Programs

Past Programs and Events

SAIF Spring Course Info Session

We held back-to-back Zoom info sessions on electives to be offered this spring in both the Sustainable and Impact Finance and the Finance curricula. These electives will help you to build out your portfolio of skills (and maybe your portfolio itself), to excel in your job or internship next year, or just to understand what the CFO is talking about.

On Mon 10/28 at we hosted SAIF faculty to speak about their courses: the Haas Impact Fund (FT & EW), the Impact and Climate Investing Practicum (FT), and Corporate Sustainability Measurement and Reporting (FT & EW).

Watch SAIF Recording

Lunch and Learn with Ron Cordes: Wednesday, October 23rd from 12-1pm

We hosted an insightful talk with Ron Cordes, a 30+ year veteran of the investment industry. As co-founder and former CEO of AssetMark, Ron helped build one of the largest investment management platforms, now managing over $50 billion in assets. In 2006, he and his wife Marty established the Cordes Foundation, which has become a leader in impact investing and advancing economic opportunities for women worldwide. Ron serves on the boards of the Sustainable and Impact Finance Initiative at Berkeley Haas, ImpactAssets, and MicroVest. His work has been highlighted in publications such as Forbes, Fortune, Barron’s, and The New York Times. Ron is an alumnus of the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.

Centers & Institutes Fair: Wednesday, September 11th from 4-6pm

The Sustainable and Impact Finance Initiative tabled, as well as the Berkeley Business Academy for Youth, the Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Hub, the Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Program, Boost @ Berkeley Haas, the Center for Responsible Business, the Center for Social Sector Leadership, Cleantech to Market, EGAL, Fisher Center for Real Estate + Urban Economics, Haas @ Work, and the Haas Career Management Group. Current Haas students learned about the co-curricular opportunities and activities available at Haas.

SAIF Open House: Tuesday, September 10th

SAIF Faculty Director Adair Morse and SAIF Program Director Megan Morrice discussed more about the SAIF program.

Climate Science Essentials for Sustainable Investing: Sunday, September 8th from 1-4pm

Haas students, alum and friends of SAIF joined SAIF Affiliated Faculty Drew Isaacs at Berkeley Haas for this extracurricular class, which introduced what is happening with the climate, specifically climate science. To understand the climate risk and opportunity of various investments, it requires understanding what the problem actually is. In particular, the class focused on giving investors a baseline understanding of climate change that they can use to help examine how their investment practices can improve the climate outlook.

Read Course Slide Deck

2024 Western Finance Association Conference: June 27 – June 30, 2024 in Honolulu

SAIF Faculty Co-Director Adair Morse discussed the costs of the green transition, specifically auto finance in the electric vehicle transition with Elizabeth Klee and Chaehee Shin of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and discussant Jordan Nickerson of the University of Washington.

Read Full Program here

US SIF FORUM 2024: June 24-26 in Chicago

SAIF Faculty Co-Director Panos Patatoukas spoke on Wednesday morning at “State of the Art in Sustainability: Theory Meets Practice Opening”. The panel was structured as a theoretical debate, and began with Panos’ presentation on the concept of ‘Material ESG Alpha’ and the theory that improving ESG scores contributes to stock outperformance.

See the Conference Agenda

2024 Berkeley Corporate + Climate Summit: Measurement, Benchmarking, Verification, and Assurances

Professor Panos N. Patatoukas hosted a panel during a cross-campus collaboration between Berkeley Law and Haas School of Business. Watch the recording here.

Watch the Whole Panel

Invest for Impact 2024: Pitch Competition and SIF Report

Corporate Sustainability Measurement & Reporting: From Whether to How

Click here

Davos 2024 – Professor Laura Tyson speaking on the “Industrial Policy 2.0” Panel

In response to recent shocks, governments have entered a new era of policy-making by implementing industrial policies aimed at spurring economic growth. As these policies are rolled out, how can governments strike a balance between national competitiveness and global cooperation and learn from the shortcomings of the 20th century’s industrial policy?

Watch

Uncovering Climate Change Risks & Opportunities: Nov 30th, 2023

SAIF’s Program Director, Megan Morrice, and our Professional Faculty Justina Lai, spoke on a panel on how private markets fit into an investor’s portfolio decarbonization target.

The Sustainable and Impact Finance Speaker Series Guide: Fall 2023

There are so many great speaker series, it can be hard to keep track of all the ways they touch on sustainable finance and impact investing. This guide highlights some of speakers who are most relevant to investing for social and environmental impact.

Download Guide

SAIF Curriculum Mixer: October 17th, 2023

Sustainability Week: October 3rd, 2023

Co-Faculty Director of Sustainable and Impact Finance, Adair Morse, spoke at Sustainability Week: Countdown to COP28. More Information about the event can be found here.

Watch Recording

22nd Annual Bank Research Conference: September 29th, 2023

Co-Faculty Director of Sustainable and Impact Finance, Adair Morse, spoke at the 22nd Annual Bank Research Conference on September 29, 2023.

More Information about the event can be found here.

Climate Mixer: September 19th, 2023

The Sustainable & Impact Finance Initiative teamed up with the Berkeley Haas Sustainability alumni group for a Climate and Sustainability Mixer at Freehouse. SAIF’s Faculty Co-Director, Adair Morse, gave brief remarks on the Inflation Reduction Act and a sneak preview of an exciting new student fund opportunity. Sustainability-minded Haas alumni, students, and faculty discussed climate and sustainable finance.

5th JRC Summer School on Sustainable Finance: July 13th, 2023

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission held the 5th edition of its Summer School on Sustainable Finance on July 13th and 14th, 2023.

SAIF Faculty Co-Director Adair Morse gave an academic keynote speech on Finance for the Net Zero Economy.

Climate Finance Conference: March 22nd, 2023

Conference Website

Impact Investing Mixer: February 15th, 2023

In partnership with the Career Management Group and Development & Alumni Relations, SAIF hosted an informal mixer focused on Impact Investing on February 15th, 2023.

SAIF partnered with the PE Club and the Center for Equity, Gender and Leadership to host Jen Braswell (she/her), Managing Director and Head of Impact, at EQT Partners, and co-founder of 2X Collaborative, the world’s gender-lens investing industry body. EQT Partners is a global PE and VC fund with an AUM of $100Bn, regularly ranked in the world’s top 5 PE funds. Jen joined us for a conversation on PE impact investing and social impact themes (including gender, equity and inclusion investing), moderated by Justina Lai, Chief Impact Officer, Wetherby Asset Management, and Instructor at Berkeley Haas.