Sustainability Management Students & Alumni Attend Bloomberg ESG Training

On Friday, November 21, students and alumni of the M.S. in Sustainability Management (MSSM) program added to their arsenal of environmental knowledge and skills by participating in a half-day training session on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data and analysis at Bloomberg, LP. The seminar was co-taught by Madison Brown and Morgan Tarrant, two of Bloomberg’s ESG analysts.

Some 30 students and alumni attended the event, who were able to use Bloomberg terminals to see, first-hand, the practical applications of ESG data. They were particularly interested in seeing how these sustainability concepts learned in the classroom were being incorporated into real business operations.

“I had no idea the terminal offered such a breadth and depth of data and ready-made analysis, especially on the ESG front”, said current MSSM student Sophie Dejonckheere. “It’s very encouraging to see that what we study and strive for is already being incorporated and applied to business operations and investment decisions with world class tools.”

The seminar reviewed Bloomberg’s process of gathering the data it inputs into its terminals, namely how to use the data that is gathered in order to assess a company’s performance and compare that performance to that of other companies. The students also learned how to build an investment portfolio using selected ESG data points, how to score companies on ESG performance, ways to assess long-term ESG risk, and where to find daily ESG research on the Bloomberg terminal

“With the rapid growth of using ESG data to invest in the capital markets in the United States, it was really helpful to get a view into what data that the investment community cares about and uses in assessing the ESG performance of companies,” stated Ame Igharo, another current MSSM student at the workshop. “I think the training was especially helpful for those of us who want to pursue sustainability careers that touch upon corporate sustainability whether at a non-profit, an investment firm or in house at a corporation.”

This Bloomberg ESG training was part of the Sustainability Skills Seminars that are organized by the Earth Institute’s Professional Development program. The purpose of the seminars is to provide opportunities for students and alumni to gain practical skills that are specific to sustainability and environmental careers. The half-day, non-credit seminars are free. Past seminars have covered Life Cycle Analysis, Geographic Information Systems, and Green Building Design.