Save the Children (and Your Investments) From Apocalyptic Thinking: Why the Bad News is Mostly Wrong

Doomsday scenarios can cloud our thinking and misguide our investments. Why do so many people fear the future? Is their concern justified, or can we look forward to greater wealth and continued improvement in the way we live?

Many people believe that our world is experiencing stagnant economic growth, climatic deterioration, dwindling natural resources, and an unsustainable level of population increase. The world is doomed, they argue, and there are just too many problems to overcome. 

But is this really the case? The world is full of challenges, and we need to tackle them head on. But we need to teach our children, and adults, the facts about how we went from an almost entirely impoverished world to a moderately affluent one in the last 250 years, and how they can help that trend to continue and flourish in those parts of the world that have not benefited as much as we have. 

And, to become better investors, we need to understand how to take advantage of the progress that is almost certain to take place within our lifetimes and beyond.

Things we discussed:

 - Where and why the world has improved-and will continue to improve

 - How the dramatic slowing in global population growth spreads prosperity from the developed to the developing world

 - How technology is helping billions of people rise above levels of mere subsistence

 - How to develop independent thinking and find your own fact based position

 - How to build resilient portfolios which also capture the upside of technological growth and innovation.

As global momentum builds towards thinking about the effects of climate change, we are beginning to see early innings of convergence between regulations, global policy, and alignment between businesses and public institutions in trying to find solutions to help mitigate a potential "green swan event." What are these inflection points that are driving early innings of change? Join us to better understand the physical and transition risks associated with climate change, along with the opportunities that could arise from a clean energy transition.

We also discuss how companies can move towards establishing credible net zero strategies and the difference between being carbon-neutral vs net-zero, as well as how investors can better interpret and analyze a company's climate strategy and assess climate risk for their own portfolios.

To reach net zero emissions by 2050, annual clean energy investment worldwide will need to more than triple by 2030 to around $4 trillion. 

• Where are we now, and what are the physical impacts we are starting to see?
• What are the tipping points in climate physical risks? 
• Regulation / financing / technological innovation all appear to be key drivers of the paradigm shift. 
• What is driving the energy transition? What do we see in terms of viable disruptive energy technologies out there, including those being made by major oil and gas and heavy industrial players to date? 
• Why conventional nuclear isn't the solution. Updates on new nuclear power technologies.
• Will developing countries have to carry more weight than others in moving towards achieving the UN SDGs? 
• What is the difference between “net zero” and “carbon neutrality”? Why have net zero solutions not been deployed already?
• Are net zero pledges becoming more of a “check-the-box” exercise or a true pathway to achieve these goals? 
• Where does a company begin in terms of establishing a transparent and credible climate strategy? 
• What needs to happen after companies / investors have announced net zero ambitions?
• Do we anticipate we see more situations like Engine No. 1 / Exxon come to market?
• Given the risks around competence greenwashing, is there a major roadblock or risk for the movement we are seeing in sustainable finance?
• Risks and opportunities of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are part of leading brands’ value chain as they move towards net-zero/deep decarbonization plan.
• How does a company in the heavy industrial and / or oil and gas space achieve net zero? Can we achieve net zero via divestments and/or can we achieve via shareholder engagement?

Climate Risk Disclosure – Auditing Opportunity or a Complete Nightmare?

There are a host of global regulations pointing us towards increasing climate risk disclosure but many corporations and investors are not yet well equipped to address risk. 57% of companies globally still rely on sustainability reports vs filings, which makes comparisons very challenging until we have a more global standardized system.

• How to define types of risk (climate, transition, etc.) and how companies would begin to address them properly without becoming greenwashers?
• How would auditors begin to think about addressing those risks if companies are struggling to collect information and guidelines are still being set globally?
• Stranded assets has been a key long-term concern and risk; how do you go about identifying and quantifying stranded assets? What scenario analyses would you advise companies and even investors to consider? 

With Nidhi Chadda, Julie “Mae” Gabato, Dr. Mathew Hampshire - Waugh, Henrik Jeppesen.

With Nidhi Chadda, Kristen O’Grady and Megahan Peterson

Discover how incorporating sustainability measures can improve your personal portfolio’s investment performance and lead to positive outcomes in the world.  

Many of us unknowingly support the very companies that aren’t practicing what we believe in and are inconsistent with our own personal core values.  What can we do about it? From large corporations and investment funds, to financial advisors and investors, we can all make slight changes to how we invest to both grow wealth and drive positive change in the world.  How you spend and invest your dollars matters. Now is the time where we have the ESG data and tools to invest in companies that care about all stakeholders, not just shareholders.

• How does a retail investor begin to think about aligning their values to their personal portfolios? Where do they start?
• What data shows that investors owning companies with better ESG profiles are likely to outperform over the long-term?
• Looking at the more recent performance of ESG funds to date, many believe that the skew towards owning technology stocks drives the outperformance. What is your observation?
• 2/3 of millennials believe their advisors should include ESG investments in their portfolios but only 1 out of 3 do so. Why the disconnect? Why aren’t financial advisors incorporating ESG into their advisory work to match this demand?
• How do you address the lack of transparency and consistency across ESG standards in your work? Will regulations requiring disclosure help address this roadblock?
• As ESG investing is becoming more popular, so are the investment options and fintech solutions for both individuals and financial advisors, How do we begin to evaluate these platforms? What should we look for? 
• AMAZON (AMZN): An example of how ESG plays out in a company's operations and financial viability 
• Measuring Impact: How does an investor know that their portfolio is really having a positive impact on the world?

Nidhi Chadda is a generalist growth investor and advisor across public and private markets. She is currently the Founder and CEO of Enzo Advisors LLC, a global sustainability consulting firm focused on helping companies build best-in-class sustainable business models within an ESG construct and works closely with institutional investors to codify and integrate ESG policies and frameworks across their investment processes.

Kristen O'Grady is a finance executive and entrepreneur, currently COO and Head of Product for Seeds (www.seedsinvestor.com), a fintech platform for financial advisors that aligns investor personal values and wealth. Prior to that, Kristen spent nearly 15 years at BlackRock and JPMorgan designing & launching investment products for wealth advisory and private bank clients.

Megahan Peterson is Director of Sustainability at Enzo Advisors LLC. She has been involved in sustainability and impact through management consulting, research and project management across the from private investors, companies, foundations and multi- and bi-lateral institutions for over 13 years.