Church Pension Group | Climate Change


Replay the December 1, 2021 event (viewing time 01:16:39)

A Virtual Conversation on Socially Responsible Investing

The Investor Response to Climate Change

World governments and businesses are ramping up their strategies to mitigate and adapt to the devastating impact of climate change. The movement toward lower carbon economies will inevitably create opportunities and risks for investors.

Amidst this backdrop, investors today consider a myriad of options when making investment decisions. These choices, however, are complex, with ramifications for developing economies, human rights, and other multi-layered factors coming into play. 

Opening Prayer

The Rev. Canon Anne Mallonee
Chief Ecclesiastical Officer
Church Pension Group

Welcoming Remarks

Mary Kate Wold
CEO and President
Church Pension Group

Climate Change Panel Discussion

Mary Kate Wold (Moderator)

Chris Goolgasian, CFA, CPA, CAIA
Senior Managing Director and Director, Climate Research
Wellington

James Magor
Director, Sustainability
Actis

June Yearwood
Managing Director, Investments
Church Pension Group

Opening Prayer

The Reverend Canon Anne Mallonee
Chief Ecclesiastical Officer
Church Pension Group

The Reverend Canon Anne Mallonee is Executive Vice President and Chief Ecclesiastical Officer for CPG. She serves as an ambassador for CPG and is a key advisor to the organization. She joined CPG in 2014.

Immediately prior to joining CPG, she served as Vicar of Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City for ten years. Ordained for over 30 years, her ministry has been at the diocesan level and in campus, parish, and cathedral settings.

She holds a BA from the University of Kansas and an MDiv from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University.

Welcoming Remarks and Moderator

Mary Kate Wold
Chief Executive Officer and President
Church Pension Group

Mary Kate Wold serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Church Pension Group (CPG), a $17 billion financial services enterprise that provides retirement, health, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, and other products and services to The Episcopal Church. She also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Church Pension Fund, CPG’s governing body.

She has served in a variety of leadership positions in the corporate, legal, and government sectors. Prior to joining CPG, she was a senior finance executive and principal corporate officer of Wyeth, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Before embarking on her corporate career, she was a partner and chaired the tax practice group of Shearman & Sterling, a leading global law firm. Earlier in her career, she served in the Office of Tax Policy of the United States Department of the Treasury.

Her board participation has included both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. She sits on the board of the Church Benefits Association, a national association of faith-based benefits organizations, and on the steering committee of the Church Alliance, a benefits policy and advocacy group. From 2016 until 2023 she served on the vestry of Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City and on its investment committee, which oversees the institution’s multi-billion-dollar real estate and securities portfolio. She also sits on the boards of Nucleus RadioPharma, The Jackson Laboratory, and Burke Neurological Institute. Her professional affiliations include membership in the Women’s Forum of New York and Women Corporate Directors.

Mary Kate spent her childhood in Bottineau, North Dakota, a small rural community on the Canadian border. She graduated from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, summa cum laude with a BA in English and Theater and was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She later graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. She holds an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University.

Panelists

Chris Goolgasian, CFA, CPA, CAIA
Senior Managing Director and Director, Climate Research
Wellington

As a director of climate research on the Sustainable Investment Team, Chris spearheads a collaborative initiative between Wellington Management and Woodwell Climate Research Center (WCRC) to integrate climate science and asset management. This alliance, launched in 2018, is focused on creating investor tools and insights to better understand how and where climate change may impact global capital markets. He is also the portfolio manager for Wellington’s climate adaptation strategy.

Prior to joining Wellington Management in 2014, Chris was head of portfolio management – Americas within the Investment Solutions Group at State Street Global Advisors (2010 – 2014). Before joining State Street, he held a number of different investment roles at Fidelity Investments and Pyramis Global Advisors beginning in 1997. Previously, he was a CPA with Kaplan, Moran, Digennaro in the public accounting field (1995 – 1997).

Chris earned both his BA  with a concentration in accounting and his MBA with a concentration in finance from Bryant University. Additionally, he holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Alternatives Investment Analyst designations, and he is a CPA. He is also a professor of finance at Bryant University.

James Magor
Director, Sustainability
Actis

James joined Actis’ Sustainability team in January 2016, where he works with portfolio companies on environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects to enhance value and sits on Actis’ Risk Committee.

He has more than 16 years of experience in sustainable finance, including eight years of experience in the electricity distribution sector. Prior to joining Actis, James spent three years as a manager in CDC Group plc’s ESG team, where he supported the private equity team, which invested in the power generation and electricity distribution, agribusiness, healthcare and FMCG sectors in Africa and South Asia.

Prior to CDC, he spent eight years as a Senior Consultant with Environ in the International Finance team, advising a wide variety of clients across a number of major industrial sectors including power generation, oil & gas, and petrochemical industries across Europe, Africa and Asia.

James is a member of the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) sustainability committee, the PRI’s Infrastructure Advisory Committee and holds an MSc Applied Meteorology & Climatology and a BSc Geography from the University of Birmingham.

June Yearwood
Managing Director, Head of Private Specialty Strategies
The Church Pension Fund

June Yearwood serves as Managing Director of CPF. In addition to leading Private Specialty Strategies, she also focuses on private equity and real estate investments. She joined CPF in 2006.

Prior to CPF, she served as Vice President, Finance and Administration of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Before this, she served as Investment Director for the Foundation.

June received a BA in History from Yale University and an MBA from The Stanford Graduate School of Business.