CFA Sustainable Investing case studies
CFA Sustainable Investing · Put your knowledge to work in context.
CFA Institute lists Sustainable Investing as one of its specialist certificate programs, appearing in the site's 'Other programs' menu alongside the CIPM® Program, Climate Investing, Private Markets, Private Equity and Investment Foundations®. CFA Institute also groups it under a 'Sustainability' learning path and offers a Chinese-language variant, Principles of Sustainable Investing (可持续投资基础证书). The CFA Sustainable Investing case studies are 5 cases and about 3,316 words.
1Water Stress at a Single-Site Chemical Issuer: Physical, Transition, or Not Material?
A credit analyst covers a BBB-rated specialty chemical producer that runs one plant in a water-stressed basin in southern Spain. The plant draws 3.1 million m³ a year under a 12-year concession that the regional government has signaled it may renew on stricter terms; drought rules already cut allocations by 20% in two of the past five years.
662 words, about 3 min2Family Control, Related-Party Leakage, and a 30% Discount
An Asian industrial conglomerate is 34% owned and 58% controlled by the founding family through a dual-class structure. Of nine directors, three are nominally independent: two have served 12 and 14 years, and the third is a partner at the law firm that has advised the family holding company for 20 years.
689 words, about 3 min3Escalation After Three Years: Voting Against the Sustainability Committee Chair
A fund owns 1.9% of a European building materials company. For three years the team has engaged on Scope 3 cement emissions and capex alignment.
693 words, about 3 min4One 'ESG Adjustment' for a Coatings DCF: Materiality, Mechanics, and Sensitivity
An analyst builds a DCF for a mid-cap coatings producer: 2025 EBITDA €480m, terminal growth 6%, WACC 8.2%, enterprise value €5.1bn. A materiality assessment narrows 16 sector issues to three: carbon pricing exposure, process-safety incidents, and VOC/product-stewardship regulation.
617 words, about 3 min5A Pension Mandate: Exclusions, Tracking Error, and a Single 'Temperature Alignment'
A €1.2bn European equity mandate for a pension scheme has an IPS that excludes tobacco, controversial weapons, and companies deriving more than 5% of revenue from thermal coal; a tracking-error budget of 100bp versus a broad benchmark; and quarterly reporting. The board also wants 'alignment with the Paris Agreement' and has asked the manager to report a single portfolio 'ESG score' and a 'temperature alignment' figure.
655 words, about 3 min