The popularity of sustainable investments grows, but how to measure sustainability?

The first episode of the new series A Cup of Hanken was broadcasted on 1 June, watch the recording here.

“We do not necessarily need to compromise our lifestyles, we just need to change them so that they do not compromise the future generations’.” Associate Professor Othmar Lehner enlightened the audience behind the screens with a definition of sustainability in the first discussion in a new series, A Cup of Hanken, where researchers at the university discuss their field of expertise in an informal format.

Also Hanna Silvola, associate professor in accounting at Hanken, took part in the discussion hosted by Camilla Wardi, Head of Corporate Relations and Outreach.

Silvola highlights that more and more investors are willing to pay higher fees for their investments. However, sustainability does not imply that one should, or must, lower returns on investment – higher fees must go hand in hand with higher profits.

The main obstacle for investing sustainably still stands: a lack of trust and understanding of the available data on sustainability measures. Both Lehner and Silvola pose in their research questions about how different dimensions of sustainability can be measured.

The discussion is based on newly launched books by the researchers: A Research Agenda for Social Finance edited by Lehner, and Sustainable Investing. Beating the Market with ESG by Silvola and Tiina Landau.

Professor Lehner is the Director of the Hanken Centre of Accounting, Finance and Governance in Helsinki, the Vice Dean for the Quantitative Techniques in Economics and Management (QTEM) programme, and the Honorary Director of the ACRN Oxford Research Network.

Hanna Silvola is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Hanken School of Economics, Finland. Her research interests are in sustainable investing and in measuring, reporting and assuring corporate sustainability information in strategic decision-making.