The Deep Transitions Newsletter puts one member of the Global Investors Panel in the spotlight each month and tells you all you need to know about their work and their aims and ambitions with the Panel. Issue #2 of our newsletter features Kate Fox who’s been providing us with interesting insights into her work as Investment Manager with Baillie Gifford, her reason for deciding to join the Global Investors Panel in the first place, and her personal success criterion for Deep Transitions Futures and the Panel.
Kate, why did you decide to join the Global Investors Panel?
“I work on a global impact strategy investing in (primarily) listed businesses whose products and services are providing solutions to global challenges. We have two objectives to meet on behalf of our clients: to deliver attractive investment returns and to help contribute towards a more sustainable and inclusive world for current and future generations by providing patient and supportive capital towards companies driving positive change. The opportunity to join the panel appealed to me as a means to stretch my thinking through learning from the researchers and the diverse group of panelists. I believe it will help me think more radically and enhance my understanding of complex systems and how they interact, with the potential to help us identify, invest in, and support companies driving positive change. The diversity of the panel appealed as I believe it will take collaboration between the private and public sector and an inclusive approach across developed and developing countries if we are to be successful in putting us onto a more sustainable path.”
What would you say are the biggest challenges in sustainable finance?
“The investment industry has become increasingly myopic and to the detriment of society, losing sight of the purpose of investing – which is to allocate capital towards companies that are investing over the long term to provide products and services that are of value to society – and instead focusing on short term profitability and narrowing their focus on shareholders rather than stakeholders. Another challenge within sustainable finance is the desire to oversimplify complex matters. For example, the increasing use of ESG scores to influence capital allocation could end up perpetuating the very problems we need to resolve as a society- the fact that Exxon scores more highly than Moderna illustrates this. We need to find a better way of understanding and articulating the real world impact of companies, thinking beyond the way they do business and incorporating the products and services they are providing and the impact those have on society, both directly and indirectly.”
What does the success of Deep Transitions Futures and the work with the Panel look like for you?
“I’d be delighted if this project helps panel members identify niches that they can invest in and support over the long term that will help the world become more inclusive and sustainable. By identifying examples of transformative investment opportunities, it will help us raise awareness and appreciation of investing this way, helping attract more capital to be deployed towards a more sustainable and inclusive world for us to retire into and for our great-grandchildren to thrive in.”
Read more about Kate Fox and the Global Investors Panel and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date about project developments, publications, news, and events. To join the conversation follow @DTransitions2 on Twitter and connect with us on LinkedIn.
