IMAS and Singapore Green Finance Centre Push to Bridge Asia’s ESG Gap

The Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS) announced a collaboration with the Singapore Green Finance Centre (SGFC) to offer a series of sustainable finance training modules developed by SGFC, on the IMAS iLearn platform - the centralised training portal for investment management professionals.

Managed by Singapore Management University (SMU) and Imperial College London, SGFC was established to develop green capital markets in Singapore through high-impact research and educational programmes. The initiative is backed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and leading global financial institutions.

The series of courses will take reference from the Sustainable Finance Technical Skills and Competencies (SF TSCs) outlined by the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore (IBF) and MAS. Conducted on iLearn, these eLearning training programmes allow participants to learn at their own pace.

Carmen Wee, the Chief Executive Officer of IMAS said, “IMAS has been working hard with partners to bring relevant and useful training on ESG to enhance capacity building within the asset management industry. We are very pleased to work with SGFC on this initiative and hope this will elevate the level of ESG expertise in Singapore and narrow knowledge gaps in this space.”

Dave Fernandez, the Co-Director of SGFC said, “Sustainable finance can be a complex subject to master given its cross-curricular nature and novelty. Training working professionals with limited time is an added challenge. Therefore, we designed these modules with practicality and conciseness as our key focuses. The goal is to provide a solid and holistic foundation for finance practitioners, enough for them to then self-develop in their day-to-day practice.”

For a start, SGFC will be introducing two initial courses, namely Climate Change Management and Sustainable Investment Management. The former will be instructed by Prof Winston Chow, Associate Professor of Urban Climate at SMU’s College of Integrative Studies covering key climate change concepts, principles, and risk management issues relevant to an organisation’s activities. Meanwhile, the latter will be offered in the second half of 2023 and will be instructed by Prof Hao Liang, Co-Director of the Singapore Green Finance Centre.

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