Two X students receive prestigious awards for their research in responsible finance
Vincent Bouchet's thesis (PhD in Economics and Management at Ecole Polytechnique) and Mathieu Joubrel's Master's dissertation (X2017 and MSc&T Data Science for Business X-HEC) were distinguished at the 17th edition of the FIR-PRI awards presented on October 4 in Paris.
Created in 2005, the FIR-PRI "Finance and Sustainable Development" awards, among the most renowned in the field of responsible finance, are organized by the Forum for Responsible Investment (FIR) in partnership with the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). The PRI defines responsible investment as a strategy and practice to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in investment decisions and active ownership.
Entitled "Finance and climate: issues, risks and organization", Vincent Bouchet's thesis was written under the joint supervision of Patricia Crifo, professor in the Economics Department at École Polytechnique, researcher at CREST and deputy scientific director of the Energy for Climate Center, and Nicolas Mottis, professor at École Polytechnique in the Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship Department
"The modeling of climate impacts and risks in finance is the subject of numerous academic works, some of which have been highlighted by previous FIR-PRI Awards," said Vincent Bouchet.
"Through economic research and a managerial analysis of the practices of a French institutional investor, the objective of my thesis is to better understand the link between these quantitative modeling issues and the organizational difficulties related to the implementation and use of these new models," he continued.
Mathieu Joubrel's dissertation, completed under the supervision of Nicolas Mottis, focuses on the evaluation and mitigation of biases for environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating models.
"The divergence of ESG ratings is a major obstacle for finance professionals who want to implement sustainable policies," says Mathieu Joubrel.
"I think it can actually become an asset for responsible investors who are able to unravel the reasons for this diversity of opinion. I hope this award will bring more attention to collaborative projects that are trying to address this issue," he adds.
Mathieu Joubrel is also co-founder of the start-up Valuecometrics, which develops a SaaS solution to provide institutional investors with a market view of the ESG scores of listed companies and which was among the ten finalists of the X-Impact Tech 2021 Prize.
The FIR brings together all the players in socially responsible investment and aims to promote dialogue and engagement with listed companies on sustainable development issues. The Forum is the promoter of the Responsible Finance Week, which is held each year in the fall. The PRI is an international network of financial institutions supported by the United Nations that work together to implement its six principles for responsible investment.