Hana chairman pledges to capitalize on MSCI's trend outlook for ESG

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, right, shakes hands with Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) CEO Henry Fernandez at the banking group's headquarters in Seoul, Saturday. Courtesy of Hana Financial Group

By Yi Whan-woo

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo pledged to capitalize on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) trends as predicted by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), a global index provider, on its path to take a global lead on sustainable finance.

In a meeting with MSCI CEO Henry Fernandez at Hana Financial Group headquarters in central Seoul, Saturday, Ham said the company will focus especially on expanding investment in green energy and other ESG-related projects in 2023.

The meeting came as and Fernandez visited Seoul last week to attend a finance conference, and also to meet a range of finance leaders here to discuss how MSCI can enhance cooperation with the Korean financial industry.

Ham was the only chairman from the nation's five largest banking groups to meet with Fernandez. The topics addressed between them centered on risks and opportunities in the global transition to carbon neutrality.

Ham told Fernandez that Hana Financial Group has been deeming risks associated with climate change as “potential threats” and that it is coping with these risks “in a preemptive manner.”

“We will actively take into account trends predicted by MSCI on ESG when pursuing initiatives in the global financial market,” the banking group chairman said.

Concerning climate change, he said that the Korean company mainly spent this year figuring out the related risks.

He went on to say, “We will build on the 2022 findings to try to develop our own ways next year in measuring financed emissions that are generated as a result of investments, lending and other financial services.”

The chairman highlighted Hana Financial Group has been committed to addressing a wide range of social issues with the goal of joint prosperity and happiness through finance.

Fernandez said the finance companies should bolster efforts to nurture ESG-oriented finance, underscoring that climate change certainly poses a risk on the one hand but also brings opportunities to broaden the ESG-related financial market on the other hand.