in the room with

OLD MUTUAL INVESTMENT GROUP

webinar

ESG investing – why it’s more than just doing the right thing

In July 2021, In the Room host, Stephen Backhouse, sat down with Old Mutual Investment Group’s Head of Responsible Investment, Jon Duncan, for an insightful webinar on ESG investing and how this megatrend could positively impact your client’s investment portfolio.

Watch the one hour webinar now to gain the insight you need to tackle this investment theme and future-proof both clients’ portfolios and your practice.

Resources

About the webinar

ESG investing – why it’s more than just doing the right thing

The world recently noted landmark steps towards a greener economy, with courts ordering an oil company to cut emissions, Europe setting ambitious carbon reduction targets, our own president announcing sizeable inclusion of private renewable energy generation, and the inheritors of world’s wealth thinking differently about their investment decisions because they understand their investment portfolios are an expression of their social, environmental, and political views.

But why does this all matter? Is ESG a true investment theme or simply a transient fad?

A shift from global leaders and regulators is driving capital towards more sustainable investment projects, propelling ESG as a megatrend that is reshaping investment landscape.

As an investor, does profit with purpose mean return sacrifice?

The investment thesis evidence suggests that better-rated ESG companies should outperform lower-rated companies, as they are sustainably and long-term focused. The prevalence of “corporate karma” as investors are losing tolerance over poor governance issues can destroy value and social license irreparably. Can it be said, that ESG can be viewed as an additional hedge against poor governance risk?

Notably, companies that are responding to this trend are reaping the financial benefits.

Join us as we unpack ESG and how investing sustainably is financially relevant.

About OLd Mutual Investment group

Old Mutual Investment Group is a leading African investment manager with a long history of helping people and institutions achieve their investment goals. We offer a comprehensive range of local and international investments. Our focus is on delivering sustainable long-term returns for our clients while being responsible stewards of the assets we manage. We believe that to deliver investment excellence, we need to incorporate independent thinking into managing our client portfolios. We achieve this through our teams’ autonomous investment processes, with each one focused on a specialist area of expertise. These teams integrate sustainability considerations across all their investment and ownership decision-making processes, as investing for a future that matters permeates everything we do.

The speakers

Jon Duncan leads the Responsible Investment Programme at Old Mutual Investment Group, focused on driving the systematic integration of material environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues across our more than R600bn of funds under management.

Jon actively participates in industry ESG research, the analysis of green growth opportunities, and engagement on regulatory issues and local industry initiatives, such as the Code for Responsible Investing South Africa (CRISA), which he was involved in the drafting of. He currently sits on the CRISA committee that drives the application of the Code in South Africa.

In 2015, Jon was appointed as Senior Associate of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, which brings together business, government and academia to find solutions to critical sustainability challenges.

Prior to joining Old Mutual Investment Group, Jon worked at Environmental Resource Management as a partner for four years, after working at Trialogue as a senior sustainability researcher and consultant. The rest of his working experience comprises similar positions in addition to two directorships.

An engineer by training, he has over 24 years of professional experience in the field of sustainability research and engagement. He has worked extensively in Africa across a range of sectors supporting organisations with strategic social, environmental and sustainability related issues.

Stephen is a business development specialist with over 11 years’ experience in the asset management and platform industry. Stephen’s focus is all aspects involved in forging long-lasting relationships with strategic partners, more specifically the Discretionary Fund Managers and large Key Accounts, who are influential partners in our industry and are important stakeholders for the future proposition of INN8.

He was previously the head of Marketing and Business Development at STANLIB, where he was responsible for the Standard Bank relationship. Stephen obtained his Bachelor of Commerce from Rhodes University, and his Honours in Financial Analysis and Portfolio Management from the University of Cape Town.