Thematic Thoughts
Thinking about the big issues around how sustainability links into the world of finance
Sunday Brunch: key thoughts from 2024
Sustainable Investing is changing. Thoughts on the changes we have seen in 2024 and hopes for 2025.
Sunday Brunch: Innovation & why investing is forward looking
Yes, investing is about the future. Future profits and future cashflows. But the value of a company is also impacted by historic innovation shortfalls. Nespresso shows it can work - will Nestle work out how to repeat the wins this brings?
Sunday Brunch: 'dirty' investments and investor expectations
Yes, demand for some 'dirty' products might collapse in the future. But, to make a compelling case to investors, we also need to understand if this negative outcome is already reflected in the current share price.
Sunday Brunch: audit - the risk hiding in plain sight
Audits matter. Much of the time investors don't get the data that underpins a company strategy. It's confidential. And so we rely on the auditor to check it. And this should include sustainability strategy. But, often it doesn't. That needs to change.
Sunday Brunch: Moving from ESG to competitive advantage
If we want companies to become more sustainable, we need to focus on the financial impacts of the transition. And we need to make the imperative for change clear - not just from society, but from governments and regulators.
Sunday Brunch: Might taking Anglo American private be good for sustainability?
Would taking a mining company private help with sustainability? Or could we achieve the same outcome with a material minority holding?
Sunday Brunch: Yes, its true, accounting really does matters
Accounting is the language of business - most investors would be lost without accounting numbers. And generally we need better sustainability related disclosures - a mining case study.
Sunday Brunch: Why investors need companies to have a vision
Companies make strategies, investors just critique them. And to do this well, we need companies to have a clearly set out vision for how their industry will look in the future, and how they will fit in it.
Sunday Brunch: the world is not linear ....
Yes, we need to prepare for the future, but in a resilient way. One that doesn't lock us into 'the future will look like the past'. And that includes mining for critical minerals.
Sunday Brunch: Doing nothing can also create risk
Doing nothing in the face of upcoming risks can be massively value destroying for companies, leading to both shareholders and lenders losing out.
Thematic Thoughts: Financial risks from climate change
Rising sea levels are not just a threat to people. They also could create material financial risks, from what we call asset impairment. And given the long asset lives of most infrastructure, the risk is getting closer than you might think.
Sunday Brunch: Things will be different, accept it & move on.
We need to change our business ecosystems if we are going to deliver the new, more sustainable ways of working. Assuming that we can do the same things as before, just greener, will not work.