This course has three main goals.
1) Understand what motivates investors to participate in responsible investments.
2) Learn how to define and measure social and environmental impact of responsible investments and charities.
3) Learn how to develop a responsible investment product and position this in the market.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) USED IN THIS COURSE IS WITH RESERVATION. A RE-EMERGENCE OF THE CORONAVIRUS AND NEW COUNTERMEASURES BY THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT MIGHT FORCE COORDINATORS TO CHANGE THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHODS USED. THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING/ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS.

The course brings students up-to-date about the latest developments in sustainable finance. They learn about the latests academic insights as well as practical cases in cooperation with the sustainable finance industry. Students also get a basic understanding of sustainable investments that are explicitly intended to have positive sustainable-development impact in emerging markets, such as “impact investments”, “microfinance”, and “effective altruism”. In small groups, they will develop their own sustainable investment product and present their case to experts in the industry.

The course is taught by the use of a collection of top-ranked academic and high-impact practitioner-oriented articles, and cases that help students to confront theory with practice.

Students are expected to understand the key basic concepts in investment analysis and portfolio theory (such as CAPM, Modern Portfolio Theory, and investment performance evaluation). Analytical skills, statistics, and an advanced level of English are required.