This executive programme is aimed for students who seek to understand how to include ESG-issues into financial analysis of companies and investment portfolios. Where traditional finance focuses on financial valuation, this programme investigates risks as well as opportunities related to sustainability.
In 2020, the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and The Norwegian Society of Financial Analysts (NFF) launched the Sustainable Financial Analysis programme in the Norwegian market. This year we broaden our scope, and hope to attract a Nordic and international interest.
The programme retains a practical and applied approach, and the student will be equipped with a deeper and more fundamental understanding of the dilemmas that arise where financial analyses meet sustainability.
As a student you will explore methods and skills that enable you to include ESG in well-founded financial analyses. The benefits are many, particularly as this is a field where the need for essential ESG-information faces many challenges due to a general lack of standards and the very speed with which this field has developed.
You will become part of a network of highly professional and experienced students and lecturers, where peer-learning and chared knowledge and experiences are essential tools.
Who is the programme for?
The Sustainable Financial Analysis programme is designed for experienced professionals with an interest in how to integrate sustainability in financial assessments. Relevant professional backgrounds include analysts, portfolio managers, CFOs, accountants, investors, rating analysts as well as advisors, journalists and regulators.
The programme is particularly suitable for Norwegian and Scandinavian applicants but welcomes applicants from outside the Nordic region as well.
Applicants are required to have at least three years of relevant work experiene as well as a basic knowledge of sustainable finance.
We also offer an introductory course in sustainable finance where needed (in Norwegian). Read more here: NFFs kurs i bærekraftig finans
Who will you meet?
The Sustainable Financial Analysis programme has succeeded to combine excellent resources both from academia and the market. Among others you will meet:
From NHH:
Practitioners/Lecturers
Annie Bergsagel, Folketrygdfondet
Are Jansrud, Sparebank1 Østlandet
Isabelle Juillard Thompsen, DNB
Roger Strevens, Wallenius Wilhelmsen
Ulf Erlandsson, Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute
What you learn at Sustainable Financial Analysis
The Sustainable Financial Analysis Programme is organised in three parts. The first part focuses on current challenges and sustainable business models, materiality analysis and reporting.
Part two integrates sustainability in financial valuation using traditional valuation models as a starting point. The third part focuses on how to best include sustainability in Portfolio Management; both on a more general level, and for the most important asset classes.
The last session focuses on discussing group assignments, which is an essential part of the programme.
1st session: 18th to 23rd October 2021, in Oslo
- Sustainable business models, materiality and reporting
- Integrated valuation using ESG metrics
- Portfolio management reflecting ESG
- Group assignment and additional perspectives
2nd Session: 18th and 19th March 2022
The last session will focus on discussing the group assignments. Sustainable finance is a complex field with a particular need for well-founded and balanced discussions. Each assignment will be presented and discussed by students, lecturers and invited experts and contributors in the field.
Assignment/assessment method
The assessment method is a group based written assignment where the aim is to integrate knowledge and information from lectures, presentations and discussions throughout the programme, and apply this to a valuation of a company or a financial instrument, a portfolio construction, portfolio analysis, or other topics that include sustainability in valuation, or assessment of portfolios. The assignments will be presented and discussed in a separate two-day session at the end of the programme (March 2022).
I participated in the sustainable financial analysis programme by NFF and NHH. It was both interesting and educational and I would highly recommend the programme for those who want to have a deeper insight into sustainability perspectives, particularly in corporate analyses and valuation. The programme is also an excellent arena to meet peers from the industry with and interest in sustainability.
I have taken both the AFA program and the Corporate Finance program before enrolling in the program on Sustainability. As one of Norway’s largest issuers of green bonds, I hoped to broaden my perspective on sustainability and finance. I experience to have my perspective and my competence expanded, in an area in rapid change. The work with the thesis was very useful, and the lecturers and fellow students were constantly engaged with useful comments on issues and new perspectives.
The programme (in sustainable financial analysis) is a significant add-on to the toolbox in my profession as an equity fund manager. While covering relevant theoretical concepts and empirical research in the field of sustainability, there is ample emphasis on how to apply and integrate this into company and portfolio analysis. The sessions are very interactive and led by a diverse mix of highly enthusiastic academics and practitioners.