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WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR JOURNEY INTO IMPACT INVESTING?
My journey into impact investing began nearly a decade ago after substantial capital markets experience at a bulge bracket Wall Street firm, and experience at category-dominant publicly traded companies. While I enjoyed being a private equity investor, I was convinced that the coexistence of dual objectives could flourish (profit/purpose). Even if more challenging than traditional investing, I wanted to be part of something innovative, so decided to exit Wall Street to gain different perspectives. I joined the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), where I was essentially the arbiter of impact investments by deciding which funds would be profiled on a technology platform designed for investors and fund managers. I was in a role where I was responsible for validating impact investment funds as well as facilitating the connection of investors to fund managers that historically could not easily locate each other in a fragmented impact investing marketplace. I then shifted to working in an investment consultant capacity to leading foundations and endowments before joining a public pension fund as the head staff member for sustainable investments. I manage a portfolio that has a $20 billion commitment to a tapestry of investments closely aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
IS THERE ONE THEME OR SDG THAT YOU SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFY OR SYMPATHISE WITH?
SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being and SDG 4: Quality Education resonate most with me. My father was a college professor, and my mother, was a medical professional. As a result, I’ve had exposure to education and healthcare throughout my upbringing. My punishment for bad behaviour as a kid was grading college accounting exams. In addition, I was routinely asked by my mother when entering my childhood home whether I had washed my hands. Education and Healthcare remain intractable. In the United States, the quality of education sadly is zip-code driven and funded through property taxes; the quality of healthcare is largely dependent on employment—both exacerbate inequities that compound over time.
WHAT HAS BEEN A HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR CAREER?
A highlight of my career has been investing across asset classes and marrying traditional investing training with deep expertise in sustainable investing. Following my father’s footsteps in teaching at the collegiate level has been incredibly fulfilling. I’ve been fortunate to have a tri-sector perspective having nonprofit, for-profit, and government experience within sustainable investing.
WHAT DO YOU IDENTIFY AS SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FOR THE FIELD CURRENTLY?
Today’s wonderfully amorphous sustainable investment space commands an appreciation for both traditional investing experience and awareness of meaningful nuances across the sustainable investment landscape. Regardless of how great an eye doctor is, he or she is likely unqualified to perform heart surgery. Investing is a humbling activity, and sustainable investing is even more humbling based on perceived constraints and misconceptions along various unsettled issues. A challenge for the investment community is making meaningful progress absent of the developed structures present in traditional investing. For example, standardization continues to be a topical concern, yet even publically traded companies frequently restate earnings and are in an immensely standardized environment, which highlights challenges in revenue recognition, materiality, and other reporting-related metrics.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN THE COMING YEARS?
The investment community is at an epistemological crossroads. Climate change has no vaccine, and neither does racism/inequality. There is no other planet for us to run to, so there is no “Plan B.” As a result, there are tremendous investment risks and opportunities related to living on a cleaner planet and a more just world. I look forward to a day when sustainable investing will simply be considered investing, which is not too far away...
The New York State Common Retirement Fund is the third largest public pension plan in the United States, providing retirement security for over one million New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) members, retirees and beneficiaries. Views expressed in the interview are solely those of the interviewee.
