ESG Talks

In this episode of ESG Talks, Pat Welch, KBRA’s Chief ESG and Ratings Policy Officer, interviews Michael Kashani, Managing Director and Head of ESG Credit at Apollo. Michael is responsible for supporting ESG integration across the Credit business as well as further incorporating ESG into Apollo’s lending and other non-control investments processes. Michael currently represents Apollo across several industry initiatives, including as the inaugural Steering Committee Chair of the ESG Integrated Disclosure Project (IDP). The ESG IDP is an industry initiative bringing together leading lenders in the private credit and syndicated loan markets to improve transparency and accountability. The group’s goal is to promote greater harmonization and consistency of disclosure of key ESG indicators by borrowers in private credit and syndicated loan transactions.

In this episode, Emilie Nadler, a Director on KBRA’s ESG team, chats with Gordon Kerr, KBRA’s Head of European Research and host of KBRA’s Conversations in European Credit podcast. Gordon and Emilie chat about the most recent United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28). This year’s event took place in Dubai and ran from the 30th of November through the 12th of December. Emilie and Gordon give an overview of the key takeaways of COP28 including fossil fuel interests at the event, discussions around carbon capture and storage, and divisions over the language of the final text.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Emilie Nadler, a Director on KBRA’s ESG team, interviews Lisa Peto from Mindset. Mindset is a bipartisan public policy firm that blends thoughtful research and analysis, strategic advisory services, and sophisticated advocacy to address the challenges and opportunities their clients encounter in Washington. Given the continued focus on ESG in public policy circles, Mindset also helps its clients navigate the evolving suite of ESG policy issues, leveraging their deep expertise in financial services, energy, environment, and other relevant policy arenas. Emilie and Lisa talk about the state of ESG disclosure regulation in the U.S. including California’s recent climate disclosure bill as well as the status of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s climate disclosure proposal. 

In this episode of ESG Talks, Luigi Griffo, Senior Director of KBRA’s European Investor Relations team, interviews Sabrina Fox, CEO of the European Leveraged Finance Association (ELFA). ELFA is a buyside-only trade association that acts as a voice for the investor community and seeks to create a more transparent, efficient, and resilient leveraged finance market. Sabrina is a recognized expert in European leveraged finance and is focused improving disclosure standards and educating market participants on the importance of lender protections in documentation. Luigi and Sabrina chat about ESG in leveraged finance, the challenges and opportunities in the market, and ELFA’s upcoming Annual Conference on 14 November in London.  

In this episode of ESG Talks, Emilie Nadler, a Director on KBRA’s ESG team interviews Kyle Purcell and Ben Vivari, Co-Founders of Till Investors. Till Investors empowers its audience with straightforward guidance on impact investing, working with both investors and organizations to find investments that fit their values and mission. This fall, Kyle and Ben are releasing their first book, “Sustainable Investing: An ESG Starter Kit for Everyday Investors.” Emilie, Kyle, and Ben chat about the current challenges in ESG investing and how Till investors works to align its clients’ interests with their ESG goals.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Emilie Nadler, a Director on KBRA’s ESG team interviews Curtis Shuck, founder and Chairman of the Well Done Foundation. The Well Done Foundation’s is working to fight climate change through plugging orphaned or abandoned oil and gas wells. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates there are approximately 3.5 million unplugged abandoned wells scattered throughout the United States. The Well Done Foundation works with farmers and landowners, local and state governments, corporations and not-for-profit organizations to locate abandoned wells, measure and document the CO2 emissions, then plug the wells and restore the surrounding surface area to its original state. For the past 30+ years, Curtis has passionately focused his extensive public service and private sector careers on Oil and Energy related transportation project development, capital project delivery and business development activities in the Pacific Northwest and the Mid‐Continent. Curtis founded the Well Done Foundation after seeing firsthand the impacts of orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells on communities and the environment. 

For more information on the Well Done Foundation’s work, view the Smithsonian Channel’s episode highlighting abandoned oil wells.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Emilie Nadler, a Director on KBRA’s ESG team, interviews Bruce Kahn. Dr. Kahn is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s the Earth Institute, in their Sustainability Management program, and is also a Senior Portfolio Manager at Shelton Capital Management. He has an extensive background in investment management with an emphasis in sustainable investing, most notably at MSCI, Macquarie, Sustainable Insight Capital Management, Deutsche Asset Management, and Smith Barney. Bruce also served as the Chair of the Finance Committee of the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation for ten years and has served on numerous advisory boards across the Sustainable Investment industry, including the USSIF, SASB and NREL.