Impact Investing in Public Markets - is There Evidence of Performance?

Moderator: Dimple Sahni, Managing Director Impact Funds Portfolios, Anthos Fund and Asset Management

Speakers:

• Karin Bouwmeester, Sustainability Manager, ABN AMRO Private Banking
• Theresa Böttger, Senior Investment Specialist Sustainable Equities, DWS
• Didy van der Schilden, Co-Founder, Mpartners
• Tim Crockford, Head of Global Impact, Regnan (an affiliate of J O Hambro Capital Management)

With the growth of the impact investing industry, investors and managers have increasingly turned to public markets, despite the surrounding debate on the market’s integrity concerning impact investments. To which extend do these investments meet the required criteria to qualify as impact investments, including intentionality, additionality, and measurability? How have impact portfolios performed compared to traditional (financial return-only) portfolios considering the recent volatility in the market? 

The speakers pointed out that impact investment strategies have delivered on their promises throughout the challenging year of 2020 – in fact, the crisis has functioned as an additional “enabler for sustainability” (Therese Boettger, Senior Investment Specialist Sustainable Equities, DWS). However, impact washing continues to define parts of the industry.

Therefore, Karin Bouwmeester (Sustainability Manager, ABN AMRO Private Banking) outlined different strategies for determining red flags. She highlighted the need to evaluate the company’s ambitions and their actual achievements in impact generation. Therefore, supporting data is needed, and attention must be paid to both negative and positive externalities to understand the total net impact. The panelists added that this evaluation needs improved methodologies, increased consistency, and higher data quality.

Didy van der Schilden (Co-Founder, MPartners) emphasized the high amount of capital within public equities, noting that the universe is big enough to enable change and accelerate innovation. However, despite the scale of public markets, challenges remain.

Tim Crockford (Head of Global Impact, Regnan (an affiliate of J O Hambro)) explained that the focus must be placed on the right frameworks and expertise. But most certainly, he added, the belief of being able to make a difference must exist.

About Phenix Virtual Impact Summit:

Phenix Virtual Impact Summit is a highly curated virtual conference that enables institutional investors and asset owners to share knowledge, exchange best practices and navigate the opportunities within impact investing industry.  

All information and Recordings of the Virtual Impact Summit 2020 are the proprietary products of and owned by Phenix Capital. The reproduction, misuse, dissemination or modification is strictly prohibited without the knowledge and permission of Phenix Capital.

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