Course Syllabus
| Semester & Location: |
Spring 2023 - DIS Copenhagen |
| Type & Credits: |
Elective Course - 3 credits |
| Mandatory Travel Component: |
London 🇬🇧 |
| Major Disciplines: |
Social, Sustainable Finance & Social Entrepreneurship |
| Faculty member: |
Mattias Enggaard |
| Prerequisite: |
None |
| Time & Place: |
Tuesday only from 14:50 – 17:45, Classroom: F24-303 |
Description of Course
This course is an introduction to the increasingly popular movement around impact investing and how money can be used to create positive change alongside a financial return. Financing the UN Sustainable Development Goals has been estimated as a $12 trillion business opportunity and we will explore how investments can positively impact important areas such as sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, conservation, as well as affordable and accessible basic services such as housing, healthcare, and education.
Through exploration of real-life case studies and an interactive approach to learning, you will gain valuable tools that enable you to approach social and environmental challenges in a sustainable way. Guest lectures and site visits let you meet a wide range of inspiring impact investors, social entrepreneurs and political activists who work with making investing work for the greater good. The course includes a study trip to London where some of the leading actors within impact investing are situated.
Experiential learning is a key component of the course and students will be actively engaged in learning in the following ways: 1) Experiencing real life cases, by going on company visits and having guest lectures from the experts off their respective field. 2) Developing their own group project, that is expanded and developed as the learnings are increased. 3) Through exclusive field studies to conferences or companies, the students will learn by engaging with the marked that they are studying - while also expanding their network.
Topics covered
- The role of finance in the economy: how impact investing can make a positive change in the world
- The spectrum of finance: from traditional investing through socially responsible investing to impact investing and philanthropy. How do the approaches differ and how impact investing is different from philanthropy and donations.
- Actors involved in financial markets and their roles: who owns the money, who manage the investments, who and what is money invested.
- Impact first or finance first? – different approaches to impact and financial return. Examples and case studies of impact investing e.g. Green Bonds/Climate Bonds, Social Impact Bonds/Development Impact Bonds, Microlending.
- How to measure and monetize impact – Understanding strengths and weaknesses of different methods and approaches such as United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), Environmental, Social and Governmental factors (ESG), Certified B Corporations
- Regulations in the market - who is making regulations and how is it affecting the players in the market
Learning Objectives
- To understand the purpose of the financial system and its influence on the economy, society and environment.
- To critically reflect on what sustainable development is and the different understandings that exists.
- To understand what impact investing means, its purpose and evaluate the potential for achieving both financial and social/environmental returns.
- To think creatively how impact investing can solve a particular social or environmental issue.
- Understand and distinguish between the various investment instruments and the actors within the field of responsible investments.
- To understand and critically reflect on measuring and monetizing impact and change.
Faculty
- 12+ years Investment Banking Experience from Top tier banks in Denmark (Danske Bank, Saxo Bank, SDC & BEC)
- MSc in Information Technology, Aalborg University / University of Melbourne CEO
- Founder & EX-CEO of MakeImpact.io
- Managing Partner of Purpose Agency
- Senior Executive ESG Management Consultant
I am a young guy studying Environmental Economics at University of Copenhagen, my interest lies within Sustainable Finance, FinTech, Capital Markets and Social Change. I am working as a Junior Consultant for Visigon, a company that specializes in IT and Capital Markets. I have also been involved in several FinTechs - both MakeImpact.io and Mattrvest in Berlin. Beyond that I have a passion for sustainability and is also an Impact Investor.
Readings/Preparation
Read post and see video on ESG investing: LINK
Read post and see video on ESG measuring: LINK
ESG investing in Nordea's context - LINK
Sustainable Finance Project of UN City - LINK
Explore Nasdaq ESG Footprint - LINK
Explore Matter ESG Framework - LINK
Explore Sustainalytics ESG Rating Framework - LINK
Impact Management Project - A Guide to Classifying the Impact of an Investment
https://www.triodos-im.com/knowledge-centre/sustainable-investing-strategies
Further readings:
Chapters from textbooks
Reports
GIIN - Annual Impact Investor Survey, 2020
GIIN - Roadmap for the Future of Impact Investing, 2018
GSG - Investing for A Better World, 2018
Pre-requisites
There are no pre-requisites for this course. No prior knowledge of finance is needed.
Field Studies
Field studies form an integral part of the course to support our understanding of how investing for impact and change is done in practice. During the semester, we will meet several actors that are working with the topic on different levels. The aim is to understand the complexity of impact investing through different perspectives. The field studies this semester will be external visits to companies working with ESG, Investing or Sustainability.
Approach to Teaching
The class will meet once a week during the semester. Assigned readings, company visits and student presentations will act as background for class discussion. This course relies heavily on reading in order to gain a deeper understanding of varying case studies we will discuss. Assigned texts must be read before class.
Organisations in and around Copenhagen will serve as case studies to illustrate the potential of investing for impact and change. Moreover, group work is essential following real life working scenarios.
Expectations of the Students
This course is not a traditional lecture class, but relies heavily on class discussion and group work, informed by an in-depth, critical reading of the assigned texts. The readings for each class have purposely been kept to reasonable amount and it is expected that all students have read, seen, or played the material prior to the lectures.
We expect you to fully engage in the lectures, participate actively in discussions, and be open minded about your fellow students' points of view. Your overall grade will be depending on an engaged, informed, and highly active participation in class discussion.
Evaluation
| Grading element | Available points |
| Class participation | 20 points |
| Mid Term Assignment (Based on learnings from study tour) | 20 points |
| Individual Reflection Posts | 30 points |
| Final Learning Reflections Presentation | 30 points |
| Maximum points available: | 100 points |
Class participation
Participation will be evaluated by the extent to which students attend classes, actively engage in class discussions, contribute to workshops, and critically reflect on the assigned readings. You are expected to bring your reading notes as well as questions to class. The reading required is the one going beyond finding information, or identifying main ideas. It will ask you to dig deep to identify meaning, relationships between ideas, and to challenge yourself finding your own response to these ideas, and its impact to the world around. Such response involves analysis, synthesis and creativity. You are encouraged to bring your own experiences into the discussions.
Individual learnings and reflections
During the semester you will take in a great deal of information, and in order to comprehend and reflect further on this information, you will reflect on your learnings each week. The format of the reflection will differ from week to week. Your reflections will be evaluated by the end of the semester.
Mid term assignment
Assignment based on learned topics and learned/reflections from study trip.
'Impact investment' group project
In the end of the semester you will the groups work on a final presentation, as finalization for for learned topics.
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Course Summary:
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