One of Australia’s foremost authorities on sustainable investment certification, and new FINSIA member, Shalini Samuel, is thrilled to build her existing knowledge of financial services through our growing suite of micro credentials.
Shalini leads the Responsible Investment Association Australasia’s (RIAA) long-standing product certification program and new sustainability classifications initiative. She is also RIAA’s AFSL responsible manager. It’s a role with significant substance.
“Certified product issuers have made changes to their practices and disclosures so they could achieve our classifications. So, RIAA is accomplishing its mission to lift standards in the responsible investment market by introducing this initiative,” she explains.
While Shalini’s present role centers on lifting responsible investment standards, her background is in sustainable finance, environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and corporate sustainability. She joined FINSIA after discovering our micro-learning courses.
“I was looking for avenues to update my own and my team’s knowledge in a practical way. I did my first course as a non-member and got so much out of it. So I decided to join FINSIA for education and ongoing professional development,” says Shalini.
“Then, when the 2024 federal budget was announced, I was looking for an effective wrap up and found the coverage was spot on. I was able to distill everything I needed to know from the webinar, which was packed with highly relevant information that was useful in my role,” she says.
Looking ahead, Shalini anticipates there will be many synergies between her work and the benefits of a FINSIA membership.
“My work is anchored in the financial services industry and FINSIA is a place I can look to when I need to broaden my horizons in relation to a particular topic.,” she says.
Outside work, Shalini has written a number of children’s books, two of which are presently being illustrated and published.
“The books are based on my three pet bunnies that have gained a small but international following from the first book," she says.
"They include story lines about the bunnies finding themselves in unlikely situations, such as racing in the track and field events in the Paris Olympics by chance, and getting caught in cute scrapes like falling into a tuba and getting blown out during a Christmas concert at the Sydney Opera House. Writing these books is great outlet for my inner child and the perfect antidote to the seriousness of my day-to-day work."
