About this session
For many employees, sustainable investing begins with a surprisingly simple question: what is my pension or investment fund actually invested in?
A fund may be described as ESG, responsible, ethical, climate-focused or sustainable, but those words do not necessarily mean the same thing — and they may not reflect the issues an individual personally cares about.
This session translates sustainable investing out of investment-industry language and into decisions employees can actually make sense of.
Participants identify the environmental, social or governance issues that matter to them, distinguish different approaches such as exclusions, ESG integration, thematic investing and stewardship and learn how to look underneath a fund name at its objective, holdings, methodology and costs.
Participants then put sustainability back alongside the normal fundamentals of investing.
They compare risk, diversification, fees and financial goals with their personal sustainability priorities and build a practical decision framework they can use when reviewing a workplace pension, retirement-plan option or other investment.
The goal is not to tell employees what to invest in — it is to help them understand what they are choosing and why.
What your people take away
- Translate ESG and sustainable-investing terminology into everyday investment decisions
- Identify whether the participant wants to avoid, support or influence particular companies or activities
- Look beneath a sustainable fund label at its objective, holdings, methodology and stewardship approach
- Keep risk, diversification, fees and financial goals alongside personal values
- Build a repeatable framework for reviewing workplace pension or other investment options
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- What each length covers, 30 minutes to full day
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What each length covers
30 minutes
30 Minutes — Key Points: Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to YouA focused 30-minute session on three key points from Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to You: start with what you actually care about, decide whether you want to avoid, support or influence and understand what ESG is — and what it isn't.
- Start with what you actually care about
- Decide whether you want to avoid, support or influence
- Understand what ESG is — and what it isn't
Covers 3 of 4 points in Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to You.
60 minutes
60 Minutes — Module 1: Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to YouA practical introduction that starts with the employee rather than the acronym ESG. Participants identify the issues they actually care about, distinguish wanting to avoid harmful activities from supporting solutions or influencing companies and map where their existing workplace pension or investments may already expose them to those issues.
- Module 1: Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to You
- Live Q&A
Covers 1 of 4 parts: Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to You.
90 minutes
90 Minutes — Modules 1 and 2: Define What Matters & Look Under the LabelEverything in the 60-minute session, plus guided investigation of how sustainable funds actually work. Participants compare exclusions, ESG integration, thematic investing and stewardship, examine a sample fund's objective and holdings and practice spotting the difference between a meaningful investment methodology and sustainability language that tells them very little.
- Module 1: Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to You
- Module 2: Look Under the Sustainable Label
- Personal sustainability-priority mapping exercise
- Fund label versus actual holdings investigation
- Live Q&A
Covers 2 of 4 parts: Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to You and Look Under the Sustainable Label.
3 hours
Covers 3 of 4 parts: Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to You, Look Under the Sustainable Label and Keep the Investment Fundamentals in the Decision.
Full day
Full Day — Full ESG & Sustainable Investing WorkshopFull coverage of all four modules with personal-priority mapping, fund investigation, greenwashing analysis and realistic investment comparisons. Participants examine what different sustainable approaches actually do, test them against risk, diversification and fees and leave with a practical framework for reviewing a workplace pension or other investment without relying on a label alone.
- Module 1: Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to You
- Module 2: Look Under the Sustainable Label
- Module 3: Keep the Investment Fundamentals in the Decision
- Module 4: Build Your Sustainable Investing Decision Routine
- Sustainable Investment Decision Map
- Avoid / support / influence exercise
- Fund factsheet and holdings investigation
- Greenwashing and ESG-rating comparison
- Risk, diversification and fee comparison
- 90-day sustainable-investing review plan
- Live Q&A
Covers all 4 parts.
Also available as a 4-week or 8-week program, for change that lasts. Ask us about it.
What’s covered
Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to You
Every length- Start with what you actually care aboutParticipants choose environmental, social or governance issues that genuinely matter to them.
- Decide whether you want to avoid, support or influenceParticipants take one issue and compare three possible intentions.
- Understand what ESG is — and what it isn'tParticipants translate environmental, social and governance factors into recognizable company issues and examine how investors may use them to assess business risk and opportunity.
- Find where your money is already investedParticipants identify where investment decisions may already be happening through a workplace pension, retirement plan or other investment account and locate the current fund or default option where possible.
Look Under the Sustainable Label
90 minutes and longer- Read the investment objective before the fund nameParticipants compare several hypothetical funds with attractive sustainability names and read what each one actually says it is trying to achieve.
- Check what the fund actually ownsParticipants examine major holdings, sectors and geographic exposure and compare them with what they expected from the label.
- Find the rules behind the claimParticipants inspect exclusions, sustainability criteria, benchmark, portfolio-construction method and stewardship approach and identify what must happen for an investment to enter or leave the portfolio.
- Question ratings & green claims without becoming cynicalParticipants compare ESG scores or sustainability claims and examine why different data providers can disagree.
Keep the Investment Fundamentals in the Decision
3 hours and longer- Values do not replace riskParticipants compare sustainable investments with different levels of concentration, volatility and market exposure and identify why two funds that support similar themes can create very different financial risks.
- Check whether the portfolio is still diversifiedParticipants explore how exclusions or narrow sustainability themes can change sector, company and geographic exposure and compare those portfolios with broader alternatives.
- Compare the cost of the approachParticipants locate fees for hypothetical sustainable and conventional funds and calculate the difference over time using a neutral example.
- Make the trade-off explicitParticipants work through situations where strong alignment with one value may reduce diversification, increase concentration, change benchmark exposure or exclude companies they would otherwise own.
Build Your Sustainable Investing Decision Routine
Full day only- Start with the investments you already haveParticipants create a review route beginning with their existing workplace pension, retirement plan or other investment rather than assuming sustainable investing requires opening something new.
- Use a five-question filter before you chooseParticipants build a short decision check covering what the investment is trying to achieve, what it owns, how the sustainability approach works, what financial risks and fees apply and whether the strategy actually matches the participant's priorities.
- Write your own sustainable investing rulesParticipants create a short personal policy identifying the issues they care about, any exclusions they feel strongly about, the approaches they are comfortable using and the investment fundamentals they refuse to ignore.
- Review without reacting to every headlineParticipants establish a sensible review process for checking whether an investment still follows its stated methodology and remains appropriate to their financial goal.
How booking works
- Book online. Create a free Workbliss profile, then pay with session credits, by card or by invoice.
- Pick a date. Choose a date at least 14 days ahead, or book now and set the date later.
- Choose your expert. Within 3 working days, we send you profiles of the experts available for your date.
- We deliver it. Your expert is briefed on your people and goals, then runs the session live online or at your site.
Questions about ESG and Sustainable Investing
How long is ESG and Sustainable Investing?
ESG and Sustainable Investing runs as 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, 3 hours or full day. You choose the length when you book. A 30-minute session covers three key points from Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to You: start with what you actually care about, decide whether you want to avoid, support or influence and understand what ESG is — and what it isn't. A 60-minute session covers Decide What Sustainable Investing Means to You in full, with a live Q&A. A 90-minute session adds Look Under the Sustainable Label. A 3-hour session adds Keep the Investment Fundamentals in the Decision. A full-day session adds Build Your Sustainable Investing Decision Routine. It is also available as a 4-week or 8-week program.
Can ESG and Sustainable Investing be delivered online or in person?
Yes, both. It runs live online, so every office can join at the same time, or in person at your site, in any country.
How do we book ESG and Sustainable Investing?
Create a free Workbliss profile with your work email, then open ESG and Sustainable Investing to see the price for each length and book it. You can pay with session credits, by card or by invoice, and choose a date at least 14 days ahead, or set it later.
Who leads the session?
A vetted Workbliss expert, briefed on your people, culture and goals before the session. After you book, we send you profiles of the experts available for your date within 3 working days, so you can choose who leads it.
Can it be tailored to our company?
Yes. Every session is shaped around your goals, your people and the benefits you already offer, and delivered by experts in your people’s languages.