Good Future

This month, I’m exploring how we can have impact by investing in public markets.

Impact investing has a long history in private markets, but when it comes to investing in public companies that are listed on a stock exchange, it’s a lot harder, to measure your impact, and to influence the companies you’re investing in.

My guests are all pioneering investment managers that all have their own strategies; and their foundational philosophies for pursuing impact are unique.

This week, it’s Kerry Series, and his fund the Inspire Australian Equities.

Kerry’s worked across the length and breadth of equities management in Australia, but it’s launching his own equities fund that I feel he’s found his groove. The firm is based in Sydney and they focus solely on the Australian Stock Exchange, they’re doing pioneering work in identifying high-impact companies, while also engaging with them to do even better.

So much so that they’re the first Australian listed equity product to be certified as ‘impact’ under RIAA’s updated RI Certification, assessment framework.

But First, I’d like to introduce you to the sponsor of this series and that’s, the ACCR, the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility. The ACCR engages with companies as a shareholder, advocating for them to improve their environmental and social practices, and in the process make the company more sustainable. It’s no easy feat, but through a modest holding of shares, and with the help of a high-performing team, they put forward shareholder resolutions that focus on positive social and environmental outcomes.

They’re a group of pragmatic lawyers and finance experts, and by utilising shareholder resolutions, they approach some of Australia’s biggest companies in a forum they can’t ignore.

Now to put a resolution forward, at least 100 shareholders in a company must come together. So, if you hold shares in ASX-listed companies and want to be involved in holding them to account on their environmental and social impacts, then let ACCR know about it. Head to www.accr.org.au/shareholders to get involved.

They’re independent, not-for-profit and they’re taking action for more sustainable businesses in Australia.

I really enjoyed this conversation, and I hope you get a lot of out of it. We dive deep into Kerry’s investment approach, and so I do need to emphasise that, as always, nothing in this podcast is financial advice. Please do seek your own professional advice before making investment decisions. Catch the full disclaimer at the end of the episode.

Enjoy

Danny Almagor has been a central pivot point of the Australian impact investment scene for more than a decade, and he’s someone I’ve wanted to sit down with for a chat, for a long time.

He’s the founder of Small Giants, and Impact Investment Group. He’s the husband of Berry Lieberman and he’s just an all-round top bloke.

Danny is an engineer by trade, but he’s a spiritual explorer in practice. He’s on a journey that I’m sure resonates with many of my listeners, and that’s a quest to make the world of business… be more human.

To share a line from a previous guest, it’s about recognising we live in an ecology, rather than an economy.

We covered a lot in this wide-ranging conversation, but most exciting was the news that Danny dropped on us, that he’s launching a new impact investment firm.

It’s called Sentient. It will sit alongside IIG, but it will be a very different beast entirely.

It’s an exciting new concept, and it follows on from the tough year that Danny had in 2020, bother personally and professionally.

You can find all the show notes on my website at www.Johntreadgold.com.

Enjoy!

My guest today is Fabienne Michaux, she’s Director at SDG Impact, it’s an offshoot of the UNDP and it’s focussed on harnessing impact investing to fund solutions to the SDGs.

SDG Impact uses the intelligence and insights it has on the ground in less developed countries all around the world, to identify challenges and problems that are in need private capital investments.

They’re a bridge between projects on the ground, and investors, but, they’ve also developed a handy set of Impact Standards which help investors to make better decisions and hopefully, boost their impact.

Alright let’s get into it.

You can find all the show notes on my website at www.Johntreadgold.com and, if you enjoy this one please do jump onto Apple Music and leave me a review, because that will help more people find the show.

Enjoy!

On the podcast today I’m speaking with Vicky Lay. Vicky is a partner and Head of Impact at Artesian Alternative Investments. She’s been a central architect of the firm’s embracing, of their impact potential, and she’s engaged with the startups they invest in. You see, Vicky was a founder herself, she knows the heartache of the valley-of-death, and the thrill of securing funding.

And it’s that skillset that she applies to mentoring founders, to helping them see their own potential, and to ditching their limiting beliefs.

Artesian are specialist investors in two broad areas: fixed income and venture capital, and of course these are two asset classes that are ideally suited to an impact approach. Vicky explained some of the nuance of their strategies, as well as how they’ve managed to engage with institutional investors like super funds.

I also took the opportunity to dig a little deeper into the mindset that Vicky brings to impact investing, and there’s a really valuable section in there where Vicky maps out a key piece of advice that she offers to her CEO coaching clients to help them push past imposter syndrome and perform at their peak.

You can get all the show notes on my website at www.Johntreadgold.com

Also, you can leave me a review on Apple Podcasts, because that’s the best way to get the show out to more people.

Enjoy!

On the show today I have Christina Leijonhufvud, she’s the CEO of BlueMark, a company founded by the impact investment consultancy Tideline. Now BlueMark has a very specific focus, and that’s to provide third-party verification of the impact investment practices and performance of the world’s leading impact practitioners.

There’s a dizzying array of impact frameworks available today, and more seem to pop-up everyday. This is progress, but as impact investment pushes into the mainstream, we face the paradox of success, it’s the challenge of maintaining impact with integrity and pushing-back against impact washing.

And this is where independent verification comes in.

When the IFC launched the Operating Principles for Impact Management, they were well aware of this, and one of their 9 principles is actually a requirement for investors to undergo third-party verification.

And so far, the large bulk of the signatories to the Impact Principles have gone to BlueMark for their impact audit.

And with this rich source of impact data, Christina and her team have aggregated the results, and they’ve begun work on a Benchmark, for what the best Impact Investment methodologies look like and where there’s area for improvement.

You can find all the show notes on my website at www.johntreadgold.com

Enjoy

My guest today is Phineas Glover. He’s head of ESG Equity Research for Asia Pacific, at Credit Suisse. He’s a leading source of up to date information on the environmental and social issues that are having material financial impacts on companies. It’s no longer just about earnings, or profit margins; the world’s biggest investors are now playing close attention to issues and themes beyond just the financials.

I really enjoyed this one, Phineas explained what it is a sell-side research analyst actually does, and then we got into weeds about whether the term ESG has lost its meaning, and how we can better assess the long-term prospects and impacts of publicly listed companies.

We went deep into the financial models, but also the philosophy of sustainability, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

All the show notes are on my website at www.johntreadgold.com

Enjoy

On the show today I have Alister Coleman, he’s founder and Managing Partner of Folklore Ventures, they just rebranded, their focus is on helping founders launch exciting new ideas, and shepherding them towards becoming Folklore.

Before diving into VC, Alister was a founder himself, doing the hard-yards to launch, build and eventually sell a software business. He knows well the commitment it takes, and the sacrifice, to give birth to a startup. And in our conversation he explained that it’s a very human process, that it’s not the markets, or the mechanics of the product, its human strength and frailty that makes all the difference.

All the show notes are on my website at www.johntreadgold.com

And if you had any feelings about this one, leave a review on iTunes, and that might just help other people find the show.

Enjoy

It’s exciting to have reached episode 71 of the Good Future podcast, and, it’s a pleasure to welcome back Andy Kuper, who was a guest in the early days of the show. Andy is of course the founder and CEO of Leapfrog, a global private equity firm focussed squarely on having a positive impact in fast growing economies.

The need to divert capital towards high-impact investments has only grown in the wake of the covid 19 pandemic, and that means Leapfrog have been busy. They’ve recently signed an unprecedented agreement with the Singaporean investment company, Temasek.

It’s more than a deal, it’s a partnership, that will see the state-owned investment company commit half a billion dollars to be deployed as the cornerstone investment for a range of Leapfrog’s future funds.

You can find all the show notes on my website at www.johntreadgold.com

And if you’d like to leave a review, you do that in the apple podcast app, or wherever you listen.

Enjoy!

Today’s guest is Andrew Gray, he’s Director of ESG and Stewardship at AustralianSuper, which is the country’s largest superannuation fund. And while the fund manages people’s nest-eggs, they have the challenging role of planning long into the future. Sustainability isn’t optional to them, sustainability is about long-term thinking, and avoiding risks, to try and make sure retirement is comfortable, and that the environment is still in good shape.

Andrew has been with AustralianSuper for ten years, and before that he was at Goldman Sachs. His long experience has been welcomed on the global stage with his role on the Steering Committee of the Climate Action 100+ network.

I’ve invited all sorts of investors and business leaders on this show, but after speaking with Andrew I realise I’ve missed the perspective of super funds, and so I’m going to work hard to include more voices form these big, influential organisations.

So let’s dive in. Show notes are at wwwjohntreadgold.com

Plus, you can also sign up for my newsletter. It’s a round-up of the most interesting news covering sustainable investment, and the evolution of finance. And it’s a good way to stay up to date on the latest podcast episodes.

Enjoy!

Amid the corona virus crisis, charities saw a dramatic decrease in donations at a time their services were needed the most. My guest today is Paul Ronalds, he’s the CEO of Save the Children Australia, and he knows this challenge well.

He’s long been an advocate for charities to evolve, and adapt to a new funding environment. It’s one reason his organisation has launched a pioneering Impact investment fund, which supports social enterprises through equity and debt funding.

In this conversation Paul explained the intricacies of the Impact Fund they’ve launched, and we explored the lessons that the finance sector can learn from not-for-profits, and vice versa.

As the finance sector discovers its power to make positive change, so too are charities recognising that financial stability requires a diversity of funding sources.

But I want to led Paul do the talking, so please enjoy.

All the show notes are on my web site at www.johntreadgold.com

Enjoy!