Name: EP 238: One Platform Can Study Impact, Minimize Risk & Maximize ROI
Start: 2023-10-28T11:15:00Z
End: 2023-10-28T11:15:26.000Z
Location: BrightTALK
Rating: 0

Investors and advisors can learn everything they need to know about sustainable finance as Paul Ellis interviews leaders in the field.

In 2023 Terra Alpha Investments financed 82% less carbon emissions, 88% less water usage and 35% less waste generation through the firm’s investment portfolio. Tim Dunn is Founder and CIO of this firm that invests in forward thinking companies that are profitably leading the transition toward a sustainable global economy. Terra Alpha engages directly with portfolio companies through proxy voting, thematic campaigns and company-specific interaction. Last year the firm also included its Diversity, Equity and Income data disclosure expectations of companies in their initial engagement letter and had 92 active engagements with portfolio companies. Terra Alpha’s ultimate goal is enabling a sustainable planet for society, which the firm does through portfolio construction, corporate engagement and thought leadership.

EP 266: Why Terra Alpha Actively Engages with Every Portfolio Company

Private equity, blended finance, new regulations like the SFDR, lack of infrastructure, government instability: these are just some of the challenges investors face in financing and executing impact projects in emerging markets. My guest today, Paul Hailey, Head of Impact and ESG at responsAbility Investments AG, walks us through how the company’s projects in South America and North Africa are achieving competitive returns while making significant impacts on climate mitigation, healthcare, education, manufacturing, financial inclusion and quality jobs for the younger generation. Since its inception in 2003, responsAbility has deployed over USD 15 billion in impact investments and currently manages USD 5.0 billion in assets.

EP 265: SFDR in an Emerging Market Context – the Impact of EU Regulations

As companies and investors continue to navigate the 3D-reset themes of decarbonization, deglobalization and demographic change, Schroders believes that it is important to consider the practical investment implications of these broad trends. In 2024, Schroders sees investors transitioning from simply thinking of ESG risk management and integration to an increasing focus on sustainable opportunities and themes to harness for value creation. 
To shed more light on this rich and exciting investment area, we have three portfolio managers with us today. Chris Damm is an Assistant PM on the US Multi-Sector Fixed Income Team at Schroders; Valerie Harrington is a Fund Manager at BlueOrchard, an Impact Investment manager owned by Schroders  and Uzo Ekwue is a Fund Manager on the Global Thematic and UK Equity teams at Schroders.

EP 264: How Three Schroders Portfolios Target the "S" in ESG Strategies

James Kench is Head of Insurance at Kita, the company that insures carbon. He is a global finance, (re)insurance & climate risk executive with a career spanning Europe, Asia & the Americas. Carbon insurance provided by Kita unlocks financing and de-risks projects in the carbon markets, a source of investment opportunity and potential liability when not insured. Carbon insurance contracts issued by Kita are backed by leading re-insurance companies like Lloyd’s of London. They swap the uncertainty of future losses with the certainty of insurance premiums to insure transfer of contracts, unsustainable business models and the cost of doing business. Carbon insurance can cover risk assessment, management and risk taking and James joins me today to discuss how Kita improves financing and lowers the cost of capital in the carbon markets.

EP 263: How Insuring Carbon Lowers the Cost of Capital

Bair Financial Planning has been offering investment and lifestyle financial advisory services to clients for 20 years! Initially focused on the LGBTQ community in San Diego, CA, Marci Bair broadened the scope of her firm's life planning and asset management advice when Victor Orozco joined the firm a decade ago. They now have clientele across multiple family generations and offers sustainable and ESG investment strategies as well as more traditional portfolio diversificaiton, and sometimes both to generations within the same family. We discussed the ever-changing list of acronyms and definitions in the asset management industry, all of which are finally about the same objectives of long term financial security that matches and compliments the lifestyle choices of their clients. Marci and Victor are actively growing their firm and adapting the services provided to their clients to meet today's financial needs and tomorrow's aspirational goals.

EP 262: Top Advisors Give Strategies for LGBTQ & Multiple Generation Clients

Courtney Thomas is a passionate advocate for social and economic justice. In her role as Senior Policy Analyst at HOPE Policy Institute, Courtney  coordinates and leads public policy efforts to advance economic opportunities for working families in the Deep South. She uses research, outreach and advocacy to advance fair and equitable public policies that center on the experiences of black, brown and indigenous communities of color. Her research interests include fair lending, fair housing and transportation equity policies, where federal and state decisions can impact the allocation of resources and facilitate an environment to ensure that all people prosper.

EP 261: Leading Public Policy Advocacy for Social & Economic Justice

Craig Coulter has 12 years of experience with EY delivering strategy and advisory services to clients large and small with a focus on the environment and sustainability. In Episode 259 of The Sustainable Finance Podcast (SFP) he and I discuss his passion for building businesses, organizations and teams that incorporate sustainability to make it business as usual. Craig is currently responsible for Sustainability Services and Strategies in the advanced manufacturing and mobility sectors, paying special attention to decarbonization in manufacturing, sustainability in supply chains and procurement compliance. Craig excels at combining technical know-how with go-to-market strategic vision, so don't miss his perspective in this SFP episode.

EP 260: A Passion to Incorporate Sustainability into Business As Usual

In 2023, FuelCell Energy commenced operations of the company’s Tri-gen system for Toyota North America at the Port of Long Beach, California, where neighboring communities have been significantly impacted by decades of emissions from the ships, trucks, locomotives, and cargo-handling equipment. Betsy Schaefer, FuelCell Energy’s Chief Marketing & Sustainability Officer joins me for this SFP episode to discuss how the Tri-gen system produces renewable electricity, renewable hydrogen, and water from directed biogas. This will allow a reduction of air pollution in the neighboring communities and will avoid more than 9,000 tons of CO2 emissions from the power grid and more than six tons of grid Nitrogen Oxide gas each year. FuelCell Energy sees sustainability as an essential part of the company’s business strategy. And Betsy joins me today to give us more details about the firm’s sustainability strategy.

EP 259: The Trigen-system Produces Renewable Energy, Hydrogen & Water

The need for convergence and harmonization of ESG frameworks and metrics across industries and regions has become critical in today’s market landscape. Investors and asset managers need quality data that they can compare across companies, industries, and indexes. The critical need for convergence and harmonization of ESG frameworks and metrics globally is the topic of today’s program. Laura Callaghan, Associate Director of ESG Services at Novata, is going to take us behind the scenes into the Service team’s important role in moving Novata beyond the sustainable investment industry perception that this is just a technology platform. We will explore the ESG convergence initiatives and frameworks that are key for market transparency, and what barriers exist in achieving this convergence.

EP 258: ESG Metrics Convergence Is Critical to Market Transparency

Alison Taylor, Clinical Professor at NYU Stern School of Business and one of the world’s most compelling experts on business ethics, has a new book, and after having read it, I recommend it to every executive, entrepreneur and student I speak to. In Higher Ground, with laser focus and insight, she lays out the reasons why businesses can no longer treat ethics as “a legal and reputational defense mechanism.” In our conversation today she walks us through her blueprint for how leaders can navigate our incredibly complex, messy, and volatile global business, social and political environment. Taylor, who has spent decades advising large multinationals on sustainability issues, organizational culture, and various forms of business model risk, tells us how we can rethink and reshape our practices.

EP 257: Higher Ground Lays Out a Blueprint for Ethical Leadership

Many claim that ESG is dead. Our SFP guest today said that “ESG is broken” at NYC Climate Week last year. But ESG teams need ESG software in the same way that finance teams need finance software. Makes sense, but where should businesses start on this software adoption journey? Today followers of the SFP are going to hear from Marjella Lecourt-Alma, CEO and Co-Founder of Datamaran about “Smart ESG”, how it differs from other approaches and what are the benefits for businesses of different sizes and industries? Datamaran is the only software analytics firm in the world that can monitor external risks and opportunities (incl ESG) in real-time. The development of their patented technology is expert-led and fully transparent. Marjella and the Datamaran team believe that companies who care about their success - in an ever evolving world - incorporate material ESG risks and opportunities from the top down.

EP 251: Is it Really Over for ESG?

“Policies and institutions that open opportunities for focus on people of color are not racist. They are not even an attempt to “level the playing field” after centuries of systemic racism. They are an effort to bring Black people onto the playing field of economic mobility after centuries of being locked out…” I’m quoting from a Forbes article published on Oct. 12th and written by Lenwood V. Long, Sr., President & CEO, African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs, my guest for today’s SFP conversation. Lenwood joins me to tell us the story behind the article.

EP 239: Black People Want Opportunities for Economic Mobility

Nick Davis, CEO at GridMarket.com believes that in the future energy will be clean, resilient, abundant, and free. Harnessing that energy will allow us to preserve wild places and protect the magic of our natural world, while propelling us to the far reaches of our solar system and beyond. Davis believes that we all have a role to play in the giant leaps that AI and energy abundance will produce for humanity. He is committed to harnessing the power of GridMarket’s subscription service in partnership with companies like GRP/Wegmanm in order to redefine clean energy projects, embracing state-of-the-art technology and AI to pinpoint, optimize, and execute renewable energy solutions with unmatched precision.

EP 256: Harnessing Technology & AI for Renewable Energy Solutions

Andrea Longton is an award-winning author and professional social justice investor. She has raised over 1 billion dollars for social justice investments in the United States and has advised on another 1.5 billion dollars worldwide. Andrea’s new book is titled The Social Justice Investor: Advance Your Values while Building Wealth and will be released this month on April 23rd. Her professional experience includes positions at Opportunity Finance Network, Freddie Mac, Capital Impact Partners, which is now Momentus Capital, and Delphos International. Andrea holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from the CFA Institute and has worked in structured finance investments, capital markets and change management.

EP 255: Invest with Your Values in Social Justice & Climate Resilience

Today’s podcast guest loves to speak with investors and asset managers interested in the sustainable food space. She’s an adviser to companies that are optimizing logistics, reducing supply chain costs & emissions and fostering community engagement as sustainability goals they expect will produce greater ROI and profitability and help them become preferred companies to work for in their industry. Shila Wattamwar is CEO and Founder of Radiant Global Advisory, a Fast Company Impact Council member and a contributing writer on sustainability themes. In a recent article Shila highlighted her framework that maps activities to positive actions, rather than just the issues we face, with the intention of making daily sustainability-focused action more tangible for consumers as well as investors and asset managers.

EP 254: Helping Companies Accelerate their Sustainability Journey

Tee Ganbold is Co-Founder and CEO at Improvability AI, the Generative AI improvement engine for sustainability. She was Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Clear AI, optimizing supply chains for sustainability utilizing knowledge graphs. Improvability AI enables companies to enhance their sustainability focus and increase profits through the power of AI automation - intuitive AI agents and applications that automate tasks and workflows to lower costs in the business model and supply chains. Clients use the Improvability AI RAG Platform to automate reporting, insights and research based on their private data and documents. They also work with Improvability AI to create their own platforms for clients or teams.

EP 253: Making Sustainability Profitable with AI Automation

Sustainable Impact investing is at an inflection point in 2024, so where do Radhika Shroff and her Nuveen Private Equity team see value in this type of investing? Their investment thesis is rooted in addressing two critical and inextricably linked problems — inequality and climate change. They believe these problems create attractive impact investment opportunities outside of traditional developed markets that offer investors stability, competitive returns and liquidity for the right asset manager. Climate change knows no boundaries and will impact communities with varying levels of resilience. Nuveen also believes that by targeting the emerging low-income consumer segment, and providing that consumer with goods and services that mitigate carbon emissions and build resilience, they will select companies best positioned to grow and lead in the decades to come.

EP 252: Targeting Leaders for Growth in Low-Income Consumer Markets

Companies in every sector of the global economy are discovering that the full spectrum of sustainability-focused challenges are more than their own and must be solved in collaboration with their partners in other businesses. My guest is this episode of the SFP is Karthik Balakrishnan, Co-Founder and President of Actual, which has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes and Business Insider among many other publications for it’s Sustainability Transformation Platform, a single place for firms to collaboratively study impact, minimize risk and maximize ROI while meeting strategic priorities.

Open the Episode 238 Attachments tab for links to ACTUAL newsletters providing detailed research.

EP 238: One Platform Can Study Impact, Minimize Risk & Maximize ROI

Sustainable ROI

Risk Management

Impact Analysis

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EP 238: One Platform Can Study Impact, Minimize Risk & Maximize ROI

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