Stewardship and ESG Reporting Development in Major Asian Financial Hubs | A Conversation with Agnes K Y Tai

Boardroom&Beyond Podcast

In this episode, Lyndsey talks with Agnes Tai, Senior Partner of Yaozhi Asset Management International and an ESG thought leader. And Agnes has been a sustainable investor for many years.

The conversation of this episode focuses on stewardship and ESG reporting challenges and development in major Asian finance hubs.

Conversation Highlights

• Stewardship in Asia
  • Actively Proxy voting is just started in Asian companies, especially for E and S factors (4:00)
  • Stewardship in Asia is just become active and rewarding (5:40)

• ESG reporting challenges for Asian companies
  • Corporate progress on sustainable reporting (7:20)
  • Three Challenges in ESG reporting – lack of standard, confusing of various international standard, standard for data comparation, green washing, PR exercise, etc. (9:40)
  • ESG Service providers in Hong Kong are not standardized (12:30)

• What activities can be most supportive for ESG reporting improvement in Asian market
  • Various reporting standard on market today (14:40)
  • TCFD reporting is the focus of Asia market at the moment leading by Japan (JPIF) (15:20)
  • ESG education and incentives programs in Hong Kong (17:40)

• What are the biggest differences in HKEX 2020 new regime vs. previous ESG guidance
  • Climate-related disclosure only (19:00)
  • Transition risks, regulation risk and consumer behavior changes affect long-term reliability of business (22:30)
  • New IPO are required to have “ESG ready” (23:00)

Guest Contact Information

Agnes K Y Tai

https://www.linkedin.com/in/agnestai/