Chris Wedding’s Post

🌟 We are really excited to present at the Family Office & Private Wealth Legacy Summit 2024; Founder and CEO from Enzo Advisors Nidhi Chadda presenting at the panel “From Mandate to Movement: The Impact of Responsible and Sustainable Investment Strategies on Traditional Asset Allocation for the Next Generation” Tuesday, August 27th, 2024. 🔍 Nidhi Chadda is a generalist growth investor and advisor across public and private markets. She is the CEO of Enzo Advisors, a female and minority-led sustainability consulting practice she founded that focuses on helping private, small and mid-cap companies build best-in-class sustainable business models and works closely with institutional investors to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies and frameworks across their investment processes. 💡 Enzo Advisors is at the nexus of finance, strategy and technology, taking a holistic qualitative and quantitative approach advising corporate and investor clients on how to integrate sustainability initiatives to mitigate risk and unlock value creation. Prior to launching Enzo Advisors, Nidhi was a portfolio manager at RBC Global Asset Management, where she spearheaded the initiative to drive ESG integration across investment processes for her team managing $3 billion in assets under management in aggregate across 3 funds. 📂 Nidhi also serves on several advisory boards and investment committees at angel associations and venture funds. Nidhi has hosted numerous webinars related to ESG / climate - related topics and has been featured across a number of media engagements including CNBC, the Women in Asset Management Summit, ESG Clarity magazine, Women's Wear Daily (WWD), ESG Today, and Venture Capital Journal. Nidhi is also an instructor for the Southern Gas Association where she teaches courses on ESG / sustainability; decarbonization and the pathway to net zero; emerging climate technologies; and climate risk modeling. 📋 She also spearheaded the launch of the quarterly ESG Series on behalf of the Board of the Harvard Business School Women's Association, which has hosted sold out events since inception. Nidhi has 20+ years of experience as an investment banker, strategic consultant, and investor. She earned her MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania where she was a Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Wharton Scholar, as well as the recipient of the Dean's Award for Innovation. She has received numerous accolades including being named one of Aspiring Women Leaders for 2022 by Aspioneer Magazine; a finalist for the Next Generation Leader Award in 2021; and a finalist for the Women in Asset Management Award for US Small / Mid-cap Equities in 2019. 📝 To register please visit, https://bit.ly/3U5wZoZ or email info@opalgroup.net #OpalGroup #OpalGroupFOPWL #FamilyOffice #Event #PrivateWealth #Finance

American Century Investments Launches Strategy Targeting Value Companies Benefiting Improving Sustainability Profiles - Asset manager American Century Investments announced the launch of American Century Global Sustainable Value Equity strategy, a new fund aimed at generating strong risk-adjusted returns by investing in undervalued companies that are expected to benefit from improving sustainability characteristics. Sarah Bratton Hughes, Head of Sustainable Investing at American Century Investments, said: “Instead of focusing on companies that are already known as sustainability leaders, we are seeking diamonds in the rough – companies that are committed to improving the sustainability of their business.” According to the firm, the new strategy will combine a best-in-progress approach and value focus, aiming to deliver attractive financial returns while contributing to positive sustainability outcomes across every sector of the economy. The strategy will hold between 45 – 75 securities. Rationale for inclusion in the portfolio will include companies committed to actively enhancing the sustainability profile of their own or their customers’ businesses, companies diligently addressing issues that are temporarily damaging their sustainability profiles, companies that are unrecognized sustainability leaders, and whose products or services are indispensable to a sustainable economy. American Century Global Sustainable Value Equity will be managed by Global Value Equity Chief Investment Officer Kevin Toney,  Senior Portfolio Manager Michael Liss and Portfolio Manager David Byrns. Byrns said: “The team will leverage our proprietary Improvement Pathway (IP) framework to identify companies that recognize the importance and value of transitioning their business operations to support a more sustainable economy. This is an opportunity for our clients to invest in a best-in-progress sustainable strategy that will strive for outperformance while delivering downside risk management and lower volatility.”  Asset manager American Century Investments announced the launch of American Century Global Sustainable Value Equity strategy, a new fund aimed at generating strong risk-adjusted returns by investing in undervalued companies that are expected to benefit from improving sustainability characteristics. Sarah Bratton Hughes, Head of Sustainable Investing at American Century Investments, said: “Instead of focusing on companies that are already known... https://lnkd.in/e_faQGRK

American Century Investments Launches Strategy Targeting Value Companies Benefiting Improving Sustainability Profiles - Asset manager American Century Investments announced the launch of American Century Global Sustainable Value Equity strategy, a new fund aimed at generating strong risk-adjusted returns by investing in undervalued companies that are expected to benefit from improving sustainability characteristics. Sarah Bratton Hughes, Head of Sustainable Investing at American Century Investments, said: “Instead of focusing on companies that are already known as sustainability leaders, we are seeking diamonds in the rough – companies that are committed to improving the sustainability of their business.” According to the firm, the new strategy will combine a best-in-progress approach and value focus, aiming to deliver attractive financial returns while contributing to positive sustainability outcomes across every sector of the economy. The strategy will hold between 45 – 75 securities. Rationale for inclusion in the portfolio will include companies committed to actively enhancing the sustainability profile of their own or their customers’ businesses, companies diligently addressing issues that are temporarily damaging their sustainability profiles, companies that are unrecognized sustainability leaders, and whose products or services are indispensable to a sustainable economy. American Century Global Sustainable Value Equity will be managed by Global Value Equity Chief Investment Officer Kevin Toney,  Senior Portfolio Manager Michael Liss and Portfolio Manager David Byrns. Byrns said: “The team will leverage our proprietary Improvement Pathway (IP) framework to identify companies that recognize the importance and value of transitioning their business operations to support a more sustainable economy. This is an opportunity for our clients to invest in a best-in-progress sustainable strategy that will strive for outperformance while delivering downside risk management and lower volatility.”  Asset manager American Century Investments announced the launch of American Century Global Sustainable Value Equity strategy, a new fund aimed at generating strong risk-adjusted returns by investing in undervalued companies that are expected to benefit from improving sustainability characteristics. Sarah Bratton Hughes, Head of Sustainable Investing at American Century Investments, said: “Instead of focusing on companies that are already known... https://lnkd.in/eVFUiQ8A

If you didn’t see the guide for asset allocators when it came around last year, here’s a quick message from Catherine Clark detailing why you should pick it up!

Impact Investing vs ESG: A Shift Towards Positive Impact The debate between impact investing and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing has been gaining traction, with experts advocating for a move towards investments that generate a tangible positive impact. Terrence Keeley, a seasoned financial services veteran, shares his frustration with the underperformance and lack of significant impact of ESG-aligned retirement funds, despite their intentions to contribute to a better world. Nancy Pfund, founder of the San Francisco-based venture capital and impact investment firm DBL Partners, echoes this sentiment. She believes that ESG investing primarily focuses on exclusion and managing risk, while impact investing actively addresses pressing challenges. This distinction highlights the fundamental difference between the two approaches. ESG investing aims to create a responsible share portfolio by considering environmental, social, and governance factors. However, this approach can inadvertently exclude companies and regions with significant impact potential. In contrast, impact investing seeks to generate measurable positive outcomes alongside financial returns. The perception of impact investing has evolved from being an alternative to philanthropy with below-market-rate returns to a viable investment strategy capable of generating healthy financial returns at scale. DBL Partners, an early investor in Tesla, closed its fourth impact fund in 2021, raising $600 million and managing over $1 billion in assets. Similarly, TPG announced the close of its TPG Rise Climate fund in 2022, raising $7.3 billion. Impact investors can tap into opportunities that others overlook, particularly in emerging markets. Nimrod Gerber, managing partner at Vital Capital Fund, emphasizes the potential for upside in these markets. By actively addressing pressing challenges, impact investing offers the opportunity to create positive change while generating financial returns. As the demand for sustainable and responsible investments continues to grow, the debate between impact investing and ESG investing will likely intensify. While ESG investing focuses on risk management and exclusion, impact investing takes a proactive approach to creating measurable positive outcomes. This shift towards impact investing represents a promising path for investors seeking to align their financial goals with their values and contribute to a better world.

4 tips to build, scale a world-class asset-management sustainability strategy

Lack of Resources Weakens Stewardship Efforts - Panellists at ESG Investor’s 2024 summit highlighted resourcing gaps in stewardship teams and recommended sharing engagement responsibility.  Stewardship across the global investment industry continues to be under-resourced, sparking calls for upskilling and collaborative action in the sector to bridge the gap.  “The simple fact of the matter is that nobody is resourcing stewardship effectively — nobody is close to it,” said Paul Lee, Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investment Strategy at investment consultancy Redington, speaking at ESG Investor’s 2024 Stewardship Summit.   In particular, asset managers are not evidencing their stewardship claims effectively for asset owners, Lee argued.  “The biggest gap that we typically find in our research is between rhetoric and reality ,” he added. “There isn’t enough delivery or evidencing of the assertions that are being made.”  Redington’s 2023 survey found that stewardship and engagement were generally less resourced than ESG and sustainable investment, attributing this phenomenon to the fact that some asset managers regard the former as a “subset” of their sustainable investment teams.   Among the managers included in the survey, 45% reported a zero headcount for stewardship and engagement. Over two-thirds of the 45% are firms with more than 50 members of staff and one-third more than 250.  Scaling down  The report further noted that asset managers with stewardship teams were less likely to invest in their expansion, with just 34% of managers having added to their stewardship and engagement divisions in 2023, compared to almost 80% the year before.   “This is a significant hiring slowdown, perhaps indicating that stewardship and engagement is an area that managers are willing to cut as they face more challenging times financially,” the report mentioned.  As part of its ongoing work, Redington also assesses asset managers’ reporting efforts annually against the UK Stewardship Code.   As such, last year’s report analysed the code disclosures of 44 asset managers, noting “huge variability” in the number of engagement actions reported. While one asset manager reported 5,312 engagement actions over a 12-month period, five others recorded 200 or fewer over the same period.   The report further highlighted inconsistencies in how asset managers defined engagement activity, and an uneven distribution of engagement efforts across geographies.  “Again, the story is unfortunately disappointing,” said Lee. “One of the most striking parts of this research is that there are several case studies that don’t appear to actually include any engagement at all.”  Against this background, there have been ongoing efforts to plug the stewardship resourcing gap. In 2022, the UN-convened Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) announced a project to investigate stewardship resourcing levels and improve

Lack of Resources Weakening Stewardship Efforts - Panellists at ESG Investor’s 2024 summit highlighted resourcing gaps in stewardship teams and recommended sharing of engagement responsibility.  Stewardship across the global investment industry continues to be under-resourced, sparking calls for upskilling and collaborative action in the sector to bridge the gap.  “The simple fact of the matter is that nobody is resourcing stewardship effectively — nobody is close to it,” said Paul Lee, Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investment Strategy at investment consultancy Redington, speaking at ESG Investor’s 2024 Stewardship Summit.   In particular, asset managers are not evidencing their stewardship claims effectively for asset owners, Lee argued.  “The biggest gap that we typically find in our research is between rhetoric and reality ,” he added. “There isn’t enough delivery or evidencing of the assertions that are being made.”  Redington’s 2023 survey found that stewardship and engagement were generally less resourced than ESG and sustainable investment, attributing this phenomenon to the fact that some asset managers regard the former as a “subset” of their sustainable investment teams.   Among the managers included in the survey, 45% reported a zero headcount for stewardship and engagement. Over two-thirds of the 45% are firms with more than 50 members of staff and one-third more than 250.  Scaling down  The report further noted that asset managers with stewardship teams were less likely to invest in their expansion, with just 34% of managers having added to their stewardship and engagement divisions in 2023, compared to almost 80% the year before.   “This is a significant hiring slowdown, perhaps indicating that stewardship and engagement is an area that managers are willing to cut as they face more challenging times financially,” the report mentioned.  As part of its ongoing work, Redington also assesses asset managers’ reporting efforts annually against the UK Stewardship Code.   As such, last year’s report analysed the code disclosures of 44 asset managers, noting “huge variability” in the number of engagement actions reported. While one asset manager reported 5,312 engagement actions over a 12-month period, five others recorded 200 or fewer over the same period.   The report further highlighted inconsistencies in how asset managers defined engagement activity, and an uneven distribution of engagement efforts across geographies.  “Again, the story is unfortunately disappointing,” said Lee. “One of the most striking parts of this research is that there are several case studies that don’t appear to actually include any engagement at all.”  Against this background, there have been ongoing efforts to plug the stewardship resourcing gap. In 2022, the UN-convened Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) announced a project to investigate stewardship resourcing levels and imp

Lack of Resources Weakening Stewardship Efforts - Panellists at ESG Investor’s 2024 summit highlighted resourcing gaps in stewardship teams and recommended sharing of engagement responsibility.  Stewardship across the global investment industry continues to be under-resourced, sparking calls for upskilling and collaborative action in the sector to bridge the gap.  “The simple fact of the matter is that nobody is resourcing stewardship effectively — nobody is close to it,” said Paul Lee, Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investment Strategy at investment consultancy Redington, speaking at ESG Investor’s 2024 Stewardship Summit.   In particular, asset managers are not evidencing their stewardship claims effectively for asset owners, Lee argued.  “The biggest gap that we typically find in our research is between rhetoric and reality ,” he added. “There isn’t enough delivery or evidencing of the assertions that are being made.”  Redington’s 2023 survey found that stewardship and engagement were generally less resourced than ESG and sustainable investment, attributing this phenomenon to the fact that some asset managers regard the former as a “subset” of their sustainable investment teams.   Among the managers included in the survey, 45% reported a zero headcount for stewardship and engagement. Over two-thirds of the 45% are firms with more than 50 members of staff and one-third more than 250.  Scaling down  The report further noted that asset managers with stewardship teams were less likely to invest in their expansion, with just 34% of managers having added to their stewardship and engagement divisions in 2023, compared to almost 80% the year before.   “This is a significant hiring slowdown, perhaps indicating that stewardship and engagement is an area that managers are willing to cut as they face more challenging times financially,” the report mentioned.  As part of its ongoing work, Redington also assesses asset managers’ reporting efforts annually against the UK Stewardship Code.   As such, last year’s report analysed the code disclosures of 44 asset managers, noting “huge variability” in the number of engagement actions reported. While one asset manager reported 5,312 engagement actions over a 12-month period, five others recorded 200 or fewer over the same period.   The report further highlighted inconsistencies in how asset managers defined engagement activity, and an uneven distribution of engagement efforts across geographies.  “Again, the story is unfortunately disappointing,” said Lee. “One of the most striking parts of this research is that there are several case studies that don’t appear to actually include any engagement at all.”  Against this background, there have been ongoing efforts to plug the stewardship resourcing gap. In 2022, the UN-convened Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) announced a project to investigate stewardship resourcing levels and imp

Lack of Resources Weakening Stewardship Efforts - Panellists at ESG Investor’s 2024 summit highlighted resourcing gaps in stewardship teams and recommended sharing of engagement responsibility.  Stewardship across the global investment industry continues to be under-resourced, sparking calls for upskilling and collaborative action in the sector to bridge the gap.  “The simple fact of the matter is that nobody is resourcing stewardship effectively — nobody is close to it,” said Paul Lee, Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investment Strategy at investment consultancy Redington, speaking at ESG Investor’s 2024 Stewardship Summit.   In particular, asset managers are not evidencing their stewardship claims effectively for asset owners, Lee argued.  “The biggest gap that we typically find in our research is between rhetoric and reality ,” he added. “There isn’t enough delivery or evidencing of the assertions that are being made.”  Redington’s 2023 survey found that stewardship and engagement were generally less resourced than ESG and sustainable investment, attributing this phenomenon to the fact that some asset managers regard the former as a “subset” of their sustainable investment teams.   Among the managers included in the survey, 45% reported a zero headcount for stewardship and engagement. Over two-thirds of the 45% are firms with more than 50 members of staff and one-third more than 250.  Scaling down  The report further noted that asset managers with stewardship teams were less likely to invest in their expansion, with just 34% of managers having added to their stewardship and engagement divisions in 2023, compared to almost 80% the year before.   “This is a significant hiring slowdown, perhaps indicating that stewardship and engagement is an area that managers are willing to cut as they face more challenging times financially,” the report mentioned.  As part of its ongoing work, Redington also assesses asset managers’ reporting efforts annually against the UK Stewardship Code.   As such, last year’s report analysed the code disclosures of 44 asset managers, noting “huge variability” in the number of engagement actions reported. While one asset manager reported 5,312 engagement actions over a 12-month period, five others recorded 200 or fewer over the same period.   The report further highlighted inconsistencies in how asset managers defined engagement activity, and an uneven distribution of engagement efforts across geographies.  “Again, the story is unfortunately disappointing,” said Lee. “One of the most striking parts of this research is that there are several case studies that don’t appear to actually include any engagement at all.”  Against this background, there have been ongoing efforts to plug the stewardship resourcing gap. In 2022, the UN-convened Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) announced a project to investigate stewardship resourcing levels and imp