Public markets present many opportunities to pursue environmental and social goals in investor portfolios. Bridgewater’s director of investment research, Karen Karniol-Tambour, discusses frameworks for assessing the sustainability and impact characteristics of public assets including equities, fixed income assets and commodities which investors can apply to their own portfolios.
View Karen’s presentation slides here[vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Karen%20Kaniol-Tambour%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Head%20of%20investment%20research%2C%20Bridgewater%20Associates%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Karen%20Karniol-Tambour%20joined%20Bridgewater%20in%202006%20and%20heads%20investment%20research%2C%20overseeing%20teams%20of%20investors%20developing%20systematic%20insights%20on%20global%20markets%20and%20economies.%20Karniol-Tambour%20is%20a%20member%20of%20Bridgewater%E2%80%99s%20investment%20committee%20and%20co-chair%20of%20Bridgewater%E2%80%99s%20commercial%20and%20business%20strategy%20committee.%20She%20leads%20Bridgewater%E2%80%99s%20sustainable%20investing%2C%20and%20is%20a%20member%20of%20Harvard%20Business%20Schools%E2%80%99%20Impact-Weighted%20Accounts%20Leadership%20Council.%20Karniol-Tambour%20received%20her%20AB%20from%20Princeton%E2%80%99s%20School%20of%20Public%20and%20International%20Affairs%20with%20a%20Certificate%20in%20Finance.%20She%20is%20a%20World%20Economic%20Forum%20Young%20Global%20Leader%2C%20an%20Atlantic%20Council%20Millennium%20fellow%2C%20and%20serves%20on%20the%20board%20of%20Seeds%20of%20Peace%2C%20a%20nonprofit%20cultivating%20young%20leaders%20to%20transform%20conflict%20in%20the%20Middle%20East%20and%20South%20Asia.%20Karniol-Tambour%20was%20included%20in%20Fortune%E2%80%99s%2040%20Under%2040%20most%20influential%20leaders%20in%20business.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2243087%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fkaren-karniol-tambour-34239ba%2F%22%7D%5D” title=”Speakers” el_class=””][vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Amanda%20White%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Director%2C%20institutional%20content%2C%20Conexus%20Financial%20%20%20%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22White%20is%20responsible%20for%20the%20content%20across%20all%20Conexus%20Financial%E2%80%99s%20institutional%20media%20and%20events.%20She%20is%20responsible%20for%20directing%20the%20bi-annual%20Fiduciary%20Investors%20Symposium%20which%20challenges%20global%20investors%20on%20investment%20best%20practice%20and%20aims%20to%20place%20the%20responsibilities%20of%20investors%20in%20wider%20societal%2C%20and%20political%20contexts%2C%20as%20well%20as%20promote%20the%20long-term%20stability%20of%20markets%20and%20sustainable%20retirement%20incomes.%20She%20is%20the%20editor%20of%20conexust1f.flywheelstaging.com%2C%20the%20online%20news%20and%20analysis%20site%20for%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20largest%20institutional%20investors.%20White%20has%20been%20an%20investment%20journalist%20for%20more%20than%2020%20years%20and%20has%20edited%20industry%20journals%20including%20Investment%20%26%20Technology%2C%20Investor%20Weekly%20and%20MasterFunds%20Quarterly.%20She%20was%20previously%20editorial%20director%20of%20InvestorInfo%20and%20has%20worked%20as%20a%20freelance%20journalist%20for%20the%20Australian%20Financial%20Review%2C%20CFO%2C%20Asset%20and%20Asia%20Asset%20Management.%20She%20has%20a%20Bachelor%20of%20Economics%20from%20Sydney%20University%20and%20a%20Master%20of%20Arts%20in%20Journalism%20from%20the%20University%20of%20Technology%2C%20Sydney.%20She%20was%20previously%20a%20columnist%20for%20the%20Canadian%20publication%2C%20Corporate%20Knights%2C%20which%20is%20distributed%20by%20the%20Globe%20and%20Mail%20and%20The%20Washington%20Post.%20White%20is%20currently%20a%20fellow%20in%20the%20Finance%20Leaders%20Fellowship%20at%20the%20Aspen%20Institute.%20The%20two-year%20program%20consists%20of%2022%20fellows%20and%20seeks%20to%20develop%20the%20next%20generation%20of%20responsible%2C%20community-spirited%20leaders%20in%20the%20global%20finance%20industry.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2243061%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Famanda-white-101a7515%2F%3ForiginalSubdomain%3Dau%22%7D%5D” title=”Moderator” el_class=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]
[vc_empty_space height=”10px”]Are you pursuing impact in your portfolio?[vc_line_chart x_values=”” values=”%5B%7B%22title%22%3A%22Yes%2C%20in%20a%20small%20part%20of%20the%20portfolio%20(%3C5%25)%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%2238%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22blue%22%7D%2C%7B%22title%22%3A%22Yes%2C%20in%20one%20asset%20class%20but%20not%20in%20others%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%226%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22pink%22%7D%2C%7B%22title%22%3A%22Yes%2C%20in%20more%20than%20half%20of%20my%20portfolio%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%2225%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22chino%22%2C%22custom_color%22%3A%22%2375d69c%22%7D%2C%7B%22title%22%3A%22Yes%2C%20in%20my%20whole%20portfolio%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%2219%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22violet%22%2C%22custom_color%22%3A%22%23ebebeb%22%7D%2C%7B%22title%22%3A%22No%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%2213%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22pink%22%2C%22custom_color%22%3A%22%23b97ebb%22%7D%5D”][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]What most stands in your way to pursue more impact through your portfolio of public market assets?[vc_line_chart x_values=”” values=”%5B%7B%22title%22%3A%22I%20worry%20I%20will%20give%20up%20too%20much%20return%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%2214%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22blue%22%7D%2C%7B%22title%22%3A%22The%20availability%20of%20reliable%20and%20consistent%20data%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%2243%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22pink%22%7D%2C%7B%22title%22%3A%22Communication%20with%20members%20and%20stakeholders%20(eg%20why%20we%20hold%20%2F%20don’t%20hold%20certain%20assets)%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%2210%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22chino%22%2C%22custom_color%22%3A%22%2375d69c%22%7D%2C%7B%22title%22%3A%22Availability%20of%20sustainable%20investments%20at%20scale%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%2219%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22violet%22%2C%22custom_color%22%3A%22%23ebebeb%22%7D%2C%7B%22title%22%3A%22Other%20challenges%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%2214%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22pink%22%2C%22custom_color%22%3A%22%23b97ebb%22%7D%5D”]
Climate is by far the number one sustainability priority for investors in 2021 according to a poll of asset owners from more than 32 countries which came together for the Top1000funds.com online Sustainability event in March.
The siege on the US Capitol has revealed asset owners may be investing in companies that work with or fund extremist groups. To protect their organisations, their stakeholders, and their savers from such risks, asset owners should consider revising their ESG frameworks to include disclosure and accountability policies on corporate political spending.
Two of the world’s largest asset owners are putting pressure on Amazon to reveal exactly how it is protecting its workers from COVID-19. It’s a move indicative of the investor mood to focus attention on human and labour rights among investee companies, with a particular spotlight on the tech sector.
Assessing, managing and changing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is set to become the data issue of the 2020s, as asset owners turn their attention to the power they have to advocate for change in the companies they invest in, and the firms that manage their money.
The reallocation of capital towards sustainable companies is happening in real time and will accelerate, according to Larry Fink who is investing in technology and people to develop systems that can prove “climate risk is investment risk”.
Tim Hodgson, co-head of the Thinking Ahead Group, goes through an elaborate exercise to determine how much of the climate problem the institutional investment industry owns. The first step, he says, in finding a solution.
A new impact investing verification, which uses the same level of rigor that institutional investors approach the due diligence of fund managers, promises to unlock capital flows into impact and build the necessary scale with integrity needed to address the urgent social, environmental, and economic challenges.
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