Welcome to the Arena from ICR – Conversations with Today's Innovators & Business Leaders

In recent years, ESG has become a hot button topic for almost all companies, public and private alike. As conversations around environmental and social issues continue to gain momentum, opportunities can present themselves for companies willing to stop playing defense with ESG and start using it as an offensive tool. Investment stories and ESG stories are quickly merging and with disclosures on ESG factors becoming standardized and related shareholder activism continuing to rise, companies who are not prepared may be left behind.

There to give them a boost is Lyndon Park, Head of Governance Solutions at ICR where he guides boards and management teams through the complexities of ESG and corporate governance to align with investor and market expectations. A former executive at BlackRock and recognized thought leader in the field, Lyndon is an expert advisor on issues ranging from shareholder activism and ESG to board composition and succession planning.

In this episode, Lyndon Park shares how ESG plays into investment strategies, he takes a deep dive into shifting rating standards, and he looks into how future trends in ESG will impact both public and private companies.

Show Notes

Summary:

In recent years, ESG has become a hot button topic for almost all companies, public and private alike. As conversations around environmental and social issues continue to gain momentum, opportunities can present themselves for companies willing to stop playing defense with ESG and start using it as an offensive tool. Investment stories and ESG stories are quickly merging and with disclosures on ESG factors becoming standardized and related shareholder activism continuing to rise, companies who are not prepared may be left behind.

There to give them a boost is Lyndon Park, Head of Governance Solutions at ICR where he guides boards and management teams through the complexities of ESG and corporate governance to align with investor and market expectations. A former executive at BlackRock and recognized thought leader in the field, Lyndon is an expert advisor on issues ranging from shareholder activism and ESG to board composition and succession planning.

In this episode, Lyndon Park shares how ESG plays into investment strategies, he takes a deep dive into shifting rating standards, and he looks into how future trends in ESG will impact both public and private companies.

Highlights:
  • Introduction to Lyndon Park and his route to ESG (02:56)
  • Why ESG should be viewed as an opportunity (06:10)
  • Approaching ESG incrementally (08:39)
  • Fitting ESG goals into existing framework (09:33)
  • How silo thinking within an organization can cause issues on ESG votes (12:45)
  • “Looking at ESG from the value perspective, and not values perspective.” (14:39)
  • The consolidation of rating standards (16:19)
  • How Lyndon helps companies integrate ESG during an IPO and beyond (20:00)
  • How private companies should be thinking about ESG (22:09)
  • Lyndon’s predictions for the future (24:23)
Links:

ICR Twitter
ICR LinkedIn
ICR Website
Lyndon Park LinkedIn
Lyndon Park Bio

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, andrew@lowerstreet.co.

What is Welcome to the Arena from ICR – Conversations with Today's Innovators & Business Leaders?

In the increasingly crowded and competitive corporate and financial ecosystem, it’s harder than ever for companies to break through the clutter and be heard. The media, investors, agenda-driven influencers, even customers and competitors, are defining your business story on their terms. Therefore, it is imperative that companies take control and proactively drive the conversation with stakeholders in an effort to build & maintain equity value.

In Welcome to the Arena from ICR, Co-Founder & CEO of ICR, Tom Ryan, interviews key business and financial players who influence the fate of public or aspiring public companies in the capital markets. As a former Wall Street Journal ranked sell-side equity analyst and the founder of one of the largest strategic communications firms in the world, Tom understands what it takes to navigate this complex environment.

This is a forum for CEOs, CFOs, institutional investors, sell-side analysts, financial journalists, private equity professionals and other financial community participants to share their stories and give advice in an open and candid conversation.

For more information, visit http://www.icrinc.com