Francesca ‘Frankie’ Smith hosted the latest event in her Home Grown Investor Series last night with a fascinating and informative discussion on potential in the Sustainable Investment market.

A leading panel of experts were quizzed on a range of topics that covered the urgent requirement for business to take positive and demonstrable action to reduce carbon emissions to meet the challenge of climate change, and the long-term investment opportunities this presents across virtually all sectors.

The panel also discussed the processes used by different investment houses to identify companies to invest in; the challenges and opportunities for Venture Capital and early stage investment; the ESG (Environment, Social & Governance) factor and how imminent changes in regulations may impact the finance industry.

Frankie, Financial Planner at Jarrovian Wealth’s Private Office, was joined by:

• Mike Penrose, Co-Founder and Partner of Sustainability Group and the Sustainability Management Platform, FuturePlus.
• Michel Van Der Spek, Co-Head of Portfolio Management at Rothschild & Co.
• Lynn Anderson-Clark, Co-Founder of The Know, a London-based Media Company.
• Louisiana Salge, Head of Sustainable Investment for EQ Investors.
• Siobhan Archer Sustainable Investment Specialist at LGT Wealth Management.

Mike currently advises many businesses, family offices, sporting organisations, multilateral agencies, and financial companies of making sustainability and social purpose an integral part of their business and investment strategies. Prior to setting up the Sustainability Group he was an Executive Director of UNICEF UK, CEO of the French humanitarian agency Action Contre La Faim and Global Humanitarian Director at Save the Children.

Michel has twenty-four years investment management experience, joining Rothschild & Co fourteen years ago. Michel’s interest in environmental protection and climate was formed early, travelling the globe seeing the impact of global warming first hand. Trying to solve this problem on your own feels like an insurmountable mountain, but identifying and investing in companies that are part of the solution is one of the many ways he feels he can contribute.

Lynn has founded a London-Based media company focused on helping people change their relationship with the news. Lynn is active in the startup community and raised seed capital for The Know as an Impact Business publishing news to 175,000+ each day with no jargon and digestible formats via social media/newsletters.

Louisiana is responsible for innovating EQ’s approach to sustainable investing, overseeing their ESG impact and integration strategy across all assets, along with EQ’s stewardship efforts and sustainability data reporting.

Siobhan, joined LGT from the UN Supported Principles for Responsible Investment where she covered investors in the UK and Ireland, advising on ESG issues. For LGT she works across the firm bolstering stewardship across the firm and providing support to financial advisers on sustainable investment themes.