MIPC 2025 Symposium: Mobilizing capital for nature-based solutions
Join us for an evening that brings together global leaders in sustainability and finance 鈥� Andrew Gonzalez and Heechung Sung 鈥� for a thought-provoking conversation moderated by Professor Sebastien Betermier, Associate Professor of Finance at 海角精品黑料. Following the discussion, guests will have the opportunity to continue the exchange over a networking cocktail in the museum, where students, faculty, staff, and MIPC competitors can connect and share ideas in a vibrant setting.
As global biodiversity loss accelerates at an unprecedented pace, threatening the ecosystems on which humans critically depend on, this symposium will delve into a pressing question:
How do we mobilize capital to restore nature and unlock long-term value creation?
Date: November 7th 2025
Time: 5:15pm - 7:30pm
Location: Redpath Museum Auditorium
Deadline to apply: November 3
Sponsor
Speakers
Sebastien Betermier is an Associate Professor of Finance at the Desautels Faculty of Management at 海角精品黑料 and the Executive Director of the International Centre for Pension Management. His research focuses on risk and return, portfolio management and asset pricing, pension funds and retirement systems, household finance, and sustainable finance. His work appears in top finance journals and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the Economist and Bloomberg among others. He was named one of the World's Best 40 under 40 Business School Professors by Poets and Quants in 2017. Professor Betermier holds a PhD in Finance from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. He also serves as Faculty Director of the 海角精品黑料 International Portfolio Challenge.
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Professor Andrew Gonzalez
Professor Andrew Gonzalez, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Liber Ero Chair in Biodiversity Conservation at 海角精品黑料. His research is centered on the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss. In particular, the human drivers of biodiversity loss, the impacts of biodiversity loss on ecosystems and the many economic and health benefits we get from them. He is an ISI highly cited researcher - a distinction given to the top 0.1% of the world's researchers, across 21 research fields. He is the founding Director of the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, co-chair of Group Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), co-chair of the IPBES assessment on monitoring biodiversity, and cofounder of Habitat a biodiversity consultancy based in Montreal.
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Heechung Sung
Executive Director | Head of Natural Capital
Heechung Sung is an Executive Director in the Investment team at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). Heech is leading the organisation鈥檚 investment strategy across agriculture, forestry and broader nature-based solutions, including carbon and environmental markets to accelerate and contribute to the decarbonisation pathway for Australia. Heech has more than 30 years鈥� experience in legal, corporate and financial services across private and public markets with prior roles at Qantas Airways, Boeing Australia and Macquarie Group. The CEFC is Australia鈥檚 鈥淕reen Bank鈥�, investing in the energy transition and key sectors of the economy, natural capital, transportation, infrastructure, property and resources to meet Australia鈥檚 net zero ambition. With access to over A$33B of capital from the government, it has committed to date A$18.3B of capital with a transaction value of A$85.3B with capital leverage of $3.55:$1 from the private sector.
What is MIPC
Today our societies and economies need immediate and conscious efforts to transition towards a sustainable future for our current and subsequent generations. The global asset management industry has the ability to make real change through the way it allocates capital across firms and industries. Since 2017, 海角精品黑料 students have brought together industry leaders and university students from around the World to find innovative portfolio solutions to complex socio-economic issues such as the rise of social inequalities and protectionist tendencies and the ESG transition.
Now in its 8th edition, the MIPC, as part of 海角精品黑料鈥檚 Sustainable Growth Initiative, has evolved into a knowledge forum bridging the gap between academic knowledge and industry practices. Hundreds of investors, actuaries, academics, and university students representing diverse backgrounds come together every year to engage in the case competition, speaker series and various recruitment activities. The MIPC tackles a new grand challenge each year and the dedicated student executive team curates a rich and interactive experience for all our stakeholders.
The MIPC is an exceptional opportunity to apply academia to a multi-faceted, real-world issue. We award C$50,000 in cash prizes to our winning student teams, a figure that makes us one of the most lucrative university competitions in the World. For industry partners, it is an insightful experience that brings new solutions for timely challenges in their industry, as well as an opportunity to mentor and recruit the next generation of leaders in finance.
