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Paula: The studies that have been done on gender equity specifically show that when you get to a percentage, like 30% female on a board, companies
tend to outperform. MSCI releases a woman-on-boards report every year, and this year they did an interesting analysis where they found out that boards
with 30% women who stay on for 3 years outperform across E, S and G standards. That's an interesting analysis, I do not think they are causal but there
is definitely a relationship there.

At Honeytree, as part of our investment criteria we have always looked at racial diversity along with gender to drive at a bigger picture of diversity. We
have a long way to go re gender diversity all over the world. However if we look at gender alone, we could end up with many white women which does
not get at broader diversity. In Asia it can be tricky. Many companies have only Asian males, and maybe one Asian woman, and so they won’t meet our
criteria. Building diversity inclusiveness, how companies treat their employees, and how the diversity of their workforce reflects where they operate are
important factors. Studies show that greater inclusion results in greater improvement to employees’ performance. When you send those messages and
you have higher ratios of diversity should drive at more diverse thinking it will help drive better decision making, and it trickles down in terms of
messaging which benefits great talent that might otherwise be overlooked. So, I think it’s crucial for companies to be aware and getting on board with
broadening diversity screens.

Xiao: A limited pool of talent with ESG and technical investment expertise has been another obstacle to full-scale ESG integration in Canada. For the
young professionals who would like to pursuit the opportunities in this field, what are the key skills and expertise for a career in ESG Investing?

Paula: Now I think it’s a good time for women, compared to being a man. I think diversity is being aware of the world. Sustainability and finance is
growing and becoming an imperative. We are seeing more jobs becoming available. It is good to be organized, thoughtful and to have an action plan
however it might be challenging initially to get the career you worked for. if we are flexible, life can take us on an interesting journey and so goals and
flexibility go great together.

In general, from an ESG perspective, I think now it's a very good time to be a woman in portfolio management because there are not that many female
portfolio managers in the industry. 10% of portfolio managers in 2010 were women, but in 2020 it’s still 10% in US/CDA. In a Morningstar report,
China has seen improvements in hiring female portfolio managers, better than those in North America. The ability to understand ESG from a portfolio
management perspective is critical, Honeytree’s framework aligns ESG and fundamental criteria on equal footing. It is an important time to play a role
to drive sustainable investing as the world of investing and worthwhile.

CCFA JOURNAL OF FINANCE June 2021
Page 9 第9页