The mallowstreet Digital ESG Indaba – addressing climate, impact, and key insights on responsible investment and stewardship
Pardon the Interruption
This article is just an example of the content available to mallowstreet members.
On average over 150 pieces of new content are published from across the industry per month on mallowstreet. Members get access to the latest developments, industry views and a range of in-depth research.
All the content on mallowstreet is accredited for CPD by the PMI and is available to trustees for free.
ESG is arguably one of the most important themes of 2021, so it is no coincidence that it was the theme for our first Indaba of 2021.
The past 12 months have delivered both the most brutal set of economic and healthcare challenges of our lifetimes and innovation at a speed rarely witnessed in history. What has been done to combat Covid-19 – the sheer volume of resources, money and intellectual capital deployed – has been extraordinary.
While Covid-19 will likely remain prevalent throughout 2021, vaccines show us a path to normality. However, the big question is, what will this ‘normality’ look like? What habits have we acquired that we are going to keep in the years to come? And in a restructured economy, with ESG increasingly at the heart of most investment strategies, how will it be used to measure and control risk, identify opportunities, and avoid new pitfalls?
Today we were joined by David Harris, group head of sustainable business at the London Stock Exchange Group & FTSE Russell, who provided an overview of the current discussions on building Paris alignment into equity portfolios.
Bella Landymore, policy director at the Impact Investing Institute, then picked up the conversation and took us through the latest findings from the institute, including their four Impact Investing Principles for Pensions.
Bella Landymore, policy director at the Impact Investing Institute, then picked up the conversation and took us through the latest findings from the institute, including their four Impact Investing Principles for Pensions.
Both of these interactive talks fielded a number of questions from the audience and set the scene nicely for Vanessa Hodge, senior investment consultant at Mercer, who outlined the top three top questions pension funds are asking about Responsible Investment. Vanessa also referenced an article on carbon published on mallowstreet: How good are carbon metrics. I encourage everyone to have a read.
We finished the day with a panel discussion of trustees and CIOs, who shared examples of how they are integrating ESG principles into the management of their respective pension funds.
These sessions were interspersed with three investment masterclasses that addressed the following topics:
- Nature is Capital: Natural Capital as an Investment Theme (HSBC Global Asset Management)
- Sustainable Investing: The New Normal (Jupiter Asset Management)
- How Institutional Investment Strategy Needs to Change Following the New Sustainable Disclosures (Sarasin & Partners)
A massive thank you to all of our speakers, panel members, and masterclass presenters. I know we covered a lot of ground today, and my question is: what were your main takeaways, and reflections do you have from the day, and what questions are still on your mind?
