Event Details - ESG and Impact Across the Investment Spectrum

ESG and impact investing are reshaping client conversations, manager selection, and portfolio decisions — yet the distinctions between these approaches remain widely misunderstood. This webinar cuts through the complexity with a practical, accessible overview of how ESG and impact investing are applied across public and private markets.

Featuring panelists with experience across public and private markets, the discussion will offer real-world perspectives on how investors evaluate ESG factors, pursue impact objectives, and assess outcomes across asset classes and investment strategies.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Distinguish between ESG integration and impact investing in practice.
Learn how ESG considerations shape investment analysis, portfolio construction, and engagement in public markets.
Understand intentionality, investor contribution, and real-world outcomes in the context of impact investing.
Explore how ESG considerations are incorporated throughout private-market investment processes.
Compare how ESG and impact approaches differ across public markets, private equity, and venture capital.

Andrea Barrios is currently a Principal with Sandpiper Ventures, where she plays a key role in sourcing, evaluating, and supporting investments in early-stage, women-led companies across Canada. In this role, she works closely with founders to provide strategic guidance and contributes to advancing Sandpiper’s mission of increasing capital and support for women entrepreneurs in the venture capital ecosystem.

Prior to joining Sandpiper, Andrea was a Senior Impact Investment Manager at Vancity, Canada’s largest community credit union. At Vancity, she managed a portfolio of private equity funds as part of the organization’s Impact Investment Strategy, which invested across 32 Canadian-domiciled funds generating tangible social, environmental, and economic benefits. These included initiatives focused on climate technology, Indigenous, women, and Black entrepreneurs, sustainable food and agriculture, and life sciences. Earlier in her career, Andrea worked at The Rockefeller Foundation as Portfolio Manager for Innovative Finance and Impact Investing, managing an active portfolio with over $100M committed across sectors and asset classes. She supported the formation and operations of the Zero Gap Fund and led the development and implementation of impact management strategies and data systems.

Andrea holds an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia. She has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Darden, where she designed and taught a Leadership in Impact Investing course for executive MBA students. Originally from Guatemala and raised in Vancouver, Andrea enjoys being active in the Pacific Northwest outdoors and is always eager to explore new ideas.

Shannon joined British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) in 2020 and leads the corporate governance workstream, ESG strategy in Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific equities, as well as private credit portfolios. With more than CAD $295 billion of managed assets, BCI is the provider of investment management services for British Columbia’s public sector and one of Canada’s largest institutional investors.

Prior to joining BCI, Shannon worked as a Product Development Manager at Invesco, helping to launch its first ESG ETFs in Canada and managing the ETF product shelf of 31 ETFs with approximately C$3.8 billion in AUM. Before that, Shannon managed distribution and regional operations of the Asia Pacific equities business at UBS in Hong Kong. Shannon holds a Bachelor of Law degree at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and a Master of Finance degree from Queen’s University in Canada. Shannon represents BCI at CII (Council of Institutional Investors), ACGA (Asia Corporate Governance Association), and APAC engagements in CA100+ (Climate Action 100+).

As Chief Sustainability Officer, Stephanie leads the sustainable and impact investing strategy and research of the firm. Her passion is to innovate and build investment solutions to help our clients achieve their financial goals while making a positive difference to the planet and the people. Stephanie is a licenced portfolio manager and joined the portfolio management team at Genus in 2016. She previously held the position of Head of Foundations and Non-profits and has extensive experience working with foundations and non-profits that are ESG or impact focused.

Stephanie moved back to Vancouver in 2016 after having spent 12 years in New York and Hong Kong where she held a number of positions in investment management, capital markets and risk management, and wealth management, at Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and Credit Suisse.