Q1: Why is it important for Baillie Gifford to be supporting the Sustainable Investment Festival 2023?
The Sustainable Investment Festival is an opportunity for Baillie Gifford to interact on an increasingly important topic with a highly relevant audience. We look forward to discussing how asset owners can use their capital to not only make attractive investments returns but also, contribute towards a more sustainable and inclusive world.
Q2: You are presenting the Positive Change strategy to delegates at the Festival. Can you share some of the key discussion points?
Of course, some of the key areas I'd like to cover are looking at the challenges we're facing globally today, and the companies looking to solve those challenges, and how we think about that in the context of an equity portfolio with two objectives. As importantly as showing financial performance, I'd also like to talk through how we actually approach measuring and reporting against an impact objective. And finally, given our upbeat optimism for the world around us, I'd also like to discuss some of the areas of research we're excited about for the next few years.
Q3: What would you like to see now from the investment industry in terms of the development of sustainable investing?
I'd make a plea to the sustainable industry to please not to try and distil everything down to just quantitative metrics: qualitative assessment matters too. We're an industry that is naturally drawn to numbers and the raft of sustainable regulation (whilst encouraging in theory) could push the industry further down the road of focusing only what is quantifiable. There is a danger that as an industry we focus on what is easy to measure not what matters. The challenges we are trying to solve are complex and what we shouldn't lose sight of is on-the-ground real world impact. That's what matters after all: the difference that our capital is actually making.
The Sustainable Investment Festival is the only event of it's kind to bring together fund selectors, financial advisers, and pension professionals to help them navigate this fast-changing environment to make better decisions. The SIF contains a vibrant programme of keynote talks, interviews, best-practice case studies, discussions, and debates packed into two days. Join the investment leaders who are pioneering the new era of sustainable investing on the 14th-15th June.
