15-03-2023 15:12

Nordea ramps up ESG training to stay relevant towards our clients

Our Large Corporates & Institutions unit at Nordea has scaled up its ESG education efforts for staff to ensure that we can play a material and meaningful role in supporting our clients' transition towards a more sustainable and net-zero future.

ESG competence is rapidly becoming an integral part of working in finance, with expectations from investors, regulators and other stakeholders on the rise. Being able to provide advice on sustainability-related issues is crucial in order to remain a relevant partner to clients.

Against this backdrop, our Large Corporates & Institutions unit has ramped up its formal ESG training for employees. The course is offered through the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies’ (EFFAS) Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA) program. The aim? To help our credit sales and research staff better understand the current environment and our clients’ key concerns when it comes to sustainability.

Supporting clients in transition

“It is important for us to understand the ESG-related challenges and opportunities our clients face in their businesses and industries so that we can support them during this period of change,” says Anne Schult Ulriksen, Head of ESG in LC&I. “That requires investing in the ESG expertise and skills of our people to help accelerate the transition. This particular certification is also geared towards the investment community.”

Nordea offered one CESGA program in 2022 and another this year, with the help of EFFAS specialists, to certify our full credit sales and research franchise as well as selected client executives and client associates.

It is important for us to understand the ESG-related challenges and opportunities our clients face in their businesses and industries so that we can support them during this period of change.
Anne Schult Ulriksen, Head of ESG in Large Corporates & Institutions, Nordea

Ludvig Kapanen, Credit Research, Nordea Markets

ESG now a ‘hygiene factor’ for companies

Ludvig Kapanen, a credit research analyst at Nordea in Sweden who focuses on the real estate and construction sector, completed the CESGA training in 2022. He says sustainability is becoming a hygiene factor for companies to be able to attract capital, whether by issuing equity, bonds or taking out bank loans.

“We are integrating ESG more and more into our daily work and research,” he says. “It is also needed for us to stay relevant towards our clients.”

Samu Wilhelmsson, a credit research analyst at Nordea in Finland who also went through the training, says there’s plenty of opportunity to apply learnings from the course on the job.

“All companies want to say they’re sustainable. Now I can better assess how sustainable they actually are,” he says. He adds that sustainability is a good discussion starter with investors, which are increasingly bound by ESG criteria in their fund rules.

“How we view these companies in terms of sustainability will have a larger impact for sure,” he says.

Roosa Mekkonen, ESG in Large Corporates & Institutions, Nordea

Roosa Mekkonen, an associate in LC&I’s ESG team, works with Nordea’s climate strategy, financed emissions and sector deep dives. That includes analysing clients’ emissions sector-by-sector. She completed the CESGA training in 2022 and has found the practical tools and templates particularly valuable.

“The trainings included mind maps and frameworks, which I’ve actually put to use,” she says. She notes that many in the financial sector need to quickly be able to talk about ESG-related topics, even though they may not have studied them in school:

“In addition to accreditation, the certification provides motivation, confidence and a solid foundation in the key issues.”

We are integrating ESG more and more into our daily work and research.
Ludvig Kapanen, Credit Research, Nordea Markets

Thought leadership

To further build our thought leadership capability, Nordea is conducting teach-ins and tailor-made training programs to deepen Nordea employees’ knowledge. The training aims to promote constructive and encouraging dialogue with our clients on the most critical issues and trends related to the future of sustainability.

You can also access some of our ESG-related thought leadership here, where you can read the latest articles and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

As the largest financial services group in the Nordic region, Nordea has an important opportunity and responsibility to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy through our private customers, corporate clients and investee companies.

Under our sustainability policy, we’ve committed to enhancing our competence, knowledge and advice on the ESG areas relevant to our products and services. That means investing in building the right competence and knowledge within our organisation.

The second batch of LC&I staff taking the CESGA course has their exam on 17 March. Join us in wishing them luck!

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