Sustainability Risk & Strategy
Silver provides insightful and actionable guidance across all facets of a client’s sustainability strategy
Silver’s Sustainability Risk and Strategy (SRS) team partners with investment managers to develop, enhance and direct sustainability efforts across marketing, engagement, investment, reporting and compliance functions.
We believe sustainability risks can represent material investment risk; and identifying, monitoring and addressing these risks is an essential component of a well-executed investment strategy.
Regulators, investors and other stakeholders consistently recognize the importance of sustainability risks. Investment managers must take a thoughtful, pragmatic approach to building and executing on programs that reasonably address these risks, while maintaining alignment with their investment strategies, stakeholder expectations, operations and reporting requirements. Silver supports its clients to manage sustainability programs by delivering customized, actionable and practical tools and frameworks that are rooted in regulatory expertise.
The SRS team operates as an extension of each client’s internal functions, delivering solutions that align with investment goals, compliance obligations and firm culture. As one of the first regulatory-focused firms to offer dedicated sustainability services, we help clients navigate complex, evolving sustainability and regulatory landscapes with clarity, positioning them for long-term success.
Program Support
Silver’s SRS team helps clients build, maintain and expand their responsible investment programs
- Policies and Procedures - Draft and refine policies and procedures that reflect a manager’s sustainability approach within investment processes
- Diligence and Portfolio Management - Create, tools templates and other materials to standardize and streamline the analysis of sustainability factors by our clients’ investment teams
- Data Management and Analysis - Support the collection analysis and visualization of sustainability data to identify key insights and opportunities for engagement
- Ongoing Support - Serve as long-term partners to our clients, working alongside them to grow their responsible investment programs via our multi-faceted approach
Regulatory and Compliance Guidance
Our regulatory background informs our sustainability advisory work and allows us to clearly identify the regulatory implications of our clients’ sustainability efforts
- Audit and Compliance - Conduct reviews of managers’ sustainability programs to identify gaps and opportunities and benchmark against industry best-practices
- SFDR Services - Support the development of required disclosures for new SFDR registered products, create annual reports to satisfy on-going reporting obligations, and advise managers on voluntary SFDR-aligned disclosures
- Reporting - Draft, review and revise regulatory reporting across multiple key jurisdictions. Key outputs include SEC’s Form 10-K and Form ADV, the EU SFDR and CSRD, and more.
- Regulatory Insight - Ensure our clients are informed of the latest regulatory developments across jurisdictions and topic areas
- Engagement - Provide bespoke support to clients who wish to make position statements on pending regulatory changes, either individually (e.g., via comment letter) or via trade associations or other collectives
Marketing and Disclosure
We prepare a wide range of sustainability disclosures for our clients, including:
- Sustainability Reporting - Draft annual investor-facing reports to communicate a client’s sustainability-related performance, risks and goals to its stakeholders
- Marketing and IR support - Assist marketing and compliance professionals to develop sustainability communications for use with current and prospective investors
- Fundraising Support - Craft and update fundraising materials, including DDQ responses, designed to meet investor expectations on sustainability topics
- Marketing Review - Perform full-scope review of sustainability marketing materials to align with industry best practices, regulatory pressures and client preferences
Framework Alignment and Reporting
We have deep experience across several key disclosure standards, including:
- PRI - Support clients with PRI efforts, from pre-Signatory assessments to Transparency Reporting
- EDCI - Align managers’ metric identification and collection practices with EDCI standards
- UK Stewardship Code - Help prepare annual UK Stewardship Code disclosures
- TCFD - Develop clear, meaningful reporting in-line with the TCFD and ISSB recommendations on behalf of our clients and their portfolio companies
- Other Frameworks - Assist clients with various other obligations as-requested, including: OPIM, B-Corp, GRESB, ISSB, ESG IDP, TPI and others
Bespoke Sustainability Strategy and Support
The SRS team is well-positioned to offer support across a wide range of sustainability-related topics, including:
- Climate Strategy - Develop and implement a manager’s strategy to address material climate-related risks and opportunities within the investment process
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Assist with GHG emissions reporting efforts for clients and underlying portfolio
- Corporate Sustainability - Identify and develop investment managers’ corporate sustainability initiatives
- Governance - In collaboration with clients, develop actionable and meaningful sustainability governance infrastructure, ensuring long-term success of their programs
Education and Strategic Market Insight
We equip managers with the necessary education, training and resources needed to stay on top of the ever-evolving sustainability landscape
- Topic-specific training - Deliver customized sustainability training on key topics including climate change, evolving industry practices, investor trends, and regulation changes
- In-depth research - Produce tailored research on sustainability topics to help inform strategic decisions and actionable solutions
- Regulatory mapping - Chart regulatory exposure across jurisdiction, entity, topic and more to ensure our clients are always up to date
Ready to learn more?
Contact Trysha to learn more about Silver and our Sustainability Risk & Strategy Services
Trysha Daskam-Smith
Managing Director and Head of Sustainability Risk & Strategy
- 646-838-2180
- [email protected]
Read the latest from SilverVision
Stay ahead of the curve with SilverVision, Silver's blog dedicated to delivering up-to-date financial and regulatory insights.
Get SilverVision in your inbox. Subscribe now.
Crypto’s Evolving Rulebook: Navigating Regulation as a Private Fund Manager
As crypto matures, the SEC is shifting from enforcement to clarity. Private fund managers must adapt