Talking Responsibly

Our Guest Speaker

This week we speak with Maria Nazarova-Doyle, who is the Head of Responsible Investments & Stewardship at Scottish Widows, about their new report “Nature & Biodiversity: The Pensions Imperative”. 

Read the Report

Rory’s Book Review

Dr Rory Sullivan’s book review this month is Overruled - Confronting Our Vanishing Democracy in 8 Cases, written by Sam Fowles. His summary of the challenges our democracy is facing is all the more concerning, given that we need strong institutions to guide the transition to a more sustainable future. 

From the Author “British democracy is on trial. We can no longer hold our leaders to account; the state has too much power; and the truth doesn't matter at all.” 

Buy the book.

More about Nature & Biodiversity 

You can find out more about COP15, the Montreal Agreement and the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) through the links below.  

More about Maria Nazarova-Doyle 

At Scottish Widows, Maria leads the work on incorporating responsible investment and active stewardship principles into the investment portfolio. She has previously held senior DC investment roles at Mercer and JLT.  She is a spokesperson on responsible investment matters, a regular contributor to pension and sustainable finance industry events and a professional awards judge. She is a member of the UKSIF Board and its Policy Committee and also volunteers at the PMI Advisory Council, ABI Climate Change and Stewardship Working Groups, Occupational Pensions Stewardship Council and a number of government-led taskforces.

Maria’s LinkedIn 

Kaisie's first full podcast as co-host! Adam and Kaisie speak to Nick Robins, Professor in Practice for sustainable finance at the Grantham Institute at LSE. Nick has published widely on the Just Transition and his guidance and principles are used all over the world. 

In this episode Kaisie, Adam and Nick discuss the Just Transition, what role investors should play, examples of best practice and crucially, who needs to be in the room when Just Transition dialogues are happening.

Read Nick's CV and his work. 

Purchase Plague Poems. 

Connect with the Hosts on LinkedIn

Adam Matthews

Kaisie Rayner

This week we are joined by Patrick Peura and Jake Barnett, authors of the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance paper "The Future of Investor Engagement". The paper discusses a number of limits that asset owners and asset managers need to surpass in the quest for more effective engagement and stewardship. Time to change the rules of the game!

Rory Sullivan gets to grips with sanctions in this weeks book fo the week: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Economic_Weapon/kMhQEAAAQBAJ?hl=en

Please feel free to connect with any of the hosts on LinkedIn or Twitter

NZAOA Future of Engagement paper: https://www.unepfi.org/news/asset-owner-alliance/change-rules-of-the-game-asks-10-4trn-net-zero-asset-owner-alliance-in-new-paper-on-investor-action/

Patrick Peura: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-peura-96915080/

Jake Barnett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-barnett-28a58727/

Rory Sullivan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rory-sullivan-73188418/

Adam Matthews: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-matthews-84926b31/

David Hickey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hickey-cfa-05633526/

Back to our usual format this week with a lively chat with specialists metals expert & Chief Data Officer at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, Caspar Rawles. We talk nickel pricing, cobart mining, and shipping spondumene. Adam finally learned how a battery works too. Cracking stuff! If you're invested in decarbonisation, or just hope to buy an EV sometime in the future, then this episode is for you!

Rory Sullivan talks rock gods in his book review this week: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Storyteller/TbjIzgEACAAJ?hl=en

Please feel free to connect with any of the hosts on LinkedIn or Twitter

Caspar Rawles LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caspar-rawles-8215142a/

Caspar Rawles Twitter: https://twitter.com/CDMRawles

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence Twitter: https://twitter.com/benchmarkmin

Rory Sullivan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rory-sullivan-73188418/

Adam Matthews: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-matthews-84926b31/

David Hickey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hickey-cfa-05633526/

In a change from our usual format, Adam and David discuss the implictions of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and what some of the implications for the field of responsible investing might be. To provide some connected historical perspective, David's wife Sandra interviews her mother Erika, about her experiences of the break up of the Soviet Union and the day the tanks rolled in to Lithuania. A huge thanks go out to both Erika for sharing her memories,  and Sandra, who not only interviewed her mother but also translated the entire recording for our listeners.

No book review this week, but next episode will see the return of Rory Sullivan.

Blue Yellow: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/

The Other Dream Team: https://youtu.be/ZYgeqoJ4B4Q 

Erkia Mozuraitiene: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-mozuraitiene-b2b95681/

Sandra Dailidyte: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-dailidyte-aba64179/

Adam Matthews: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-matthews-84926b31/

David Hickey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hickey-cfa-05633526/

Today we're talking tech with Christine Chow and Anna McDonlad. Plenty of chat about tech reach, artificial intelligence, and how it all impacts on responsible investment.

Rory Sullivan talks about a mistitled book: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Leadership/EXc8EAAAQBAJ?hl=en

Please feel free to connect with any of the hosts on LinkedIn or Twitter

Christine Chow: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-chow-phd-680268/

Anna McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-mcdonald-esg/

Rory Sullivan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rory-sullivan-73188418/

Adam Matthews: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-matthews-84926b31/

David Hickey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hickey-cfa-05633526/

Back in Episode 18, UK Pensions Minister Guy Opperman challenged our listeners to let us know what they would if they were the pensions minister. We were lucky to have some great contributions come in from our listeners, so in this episode Adam and I listen along with you and give our opinions on what we're hearing. This was great fun, particularly as we were able to record it in the room together over a cuppa.

Rory Sullivan goes back to Irelend with his book of the week, which is very much part book review, part therapy session https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/We_Don_t_Know_Ourselves/cKWKDwAAQBAJ?hl=en

Please feel free to connect with any of our contributors or hosts:

Dan Mikulskis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danmikulskis/

Sandra Dailidyte (voice of our mystery contributor): https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-dailidyte-aba64179/

Maria Nazarova-Doyle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-nazarova-doyle-cfa/

Francesco Curto: https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesco-curto-a9174bab/

Mike Clark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-clark-696100136/

Sir Steve Webb: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-webb-1714b54/

Sarah Wilson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsarahwilson/

Guy Opperman: https://members.parliament.uk/member/4142/contact

Rory Sullivan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rory-sullivan-73188418/

Adam Matthews: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-matthews-84926b31/

David Hickey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hickey-cfa-05633526/

We're back! Series 2 gets off to with a bang as we chat responsible metal (no, not the obscure music genre) with London Metal Exchange's Chief Sustainability Officer Georgina Hallett. We talk responsible sourcing, controversy in recycling markets, and whether we should exclude capital from parts of the market that rely in some part on child labour. We also touch on Adam's extraordinary work in setting up the Mine Tailings Initiative following third year anniversary of the Brumadinho diaster.

Rory Sullivan talks relationships between financial market actors in his book review this week: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/chains-of-finance-9780198802945?cc=gb&lang=en&

Please feel free to connect with any of the hosts on LinkedIn or Twitter

LME Group: https://www.lme.com/

LME Group Fax Number: +44 (0) 207 680 0505

Rory Sullivan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rory-sullivan-73188418/

Adam Matthews: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-matthews-84926b31/

David Hickey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hickey-cfa-05633526/

For the final episode of series 1, we speak with the Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, Guy Opperman. We're very lucky to get an overview of his vision for pensions in the UK, ways we might collectively help fight the climate crisis, and we talk horses. Unmissable! 

Rory Sullivan talks Rory Sullivan on his book review this week

Please feel free to connect with any of the hosts on LinkedIn or Twitter

Guy Opperman: https://members.parliament.uk/member/4142/contact

Rory Sullivan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rory-sullivan-73188418/

Adam Matthews: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-matthews-84926b31/

David Hickey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hickey-cfa-05633526/