I recently went with my better half, Rieki, to India for the first time.
Rieki had been there many times, having taken groups who wanted to experience the culture. She planned a fantastic trip to allow me to experience the magic of India and not lose my cool with, the intensity that is particular to India. Choosing Rajasthan and planning the route through Udaipur, Dungarpur, Ranakpur, Jodhpur and Jaipur was a stroke of genius.
What was the most surprising of the Continent India, is that it is a beautiful, inspiring, crazy, funny, ballet of total chaos. However, it all works. In spite of all the cars, tuk tuks, trucks, cows, monkeys, and people constantly intersecting each other and us, I never experienced any accidents. Quite amazing.
India’s remarkable ability to hold in a deep embrace, its cultural heritage and fully accept modern high tech life , and be the world’s largest democracy, is beyond astounding.
The trip was was not a chill beach holiday, but it was definitely refreshing for the soul. I experience an ancient civilisation that built the most awe inspiring structures that leave you breathless. People who are exceptionally engaging, with a wonderful sense of humour.
My only comment is if you need something created that needs a true artists soul to inspire generations, call an Indian. If you need a plumber, don’t call an Indian artist.
Thank you Rieki for a great holiday.
“India is the One land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for all the shows of all the rest of the globe combined.” – Mark Twain
That is a fact, although in a time of fake facts it doesn’t matter.
Why is there not a single bank, wealth manager, or major financial institution the leader in the “race for values investors”. We keep hearing how ESG and Impact is booming and trillions are pouring into the space. If that was true, then why is it that not a single bank is perceived as the leader, the champion, THE IMPACT BANK for UHNW(Ultra High Net Worth) or HNW (High Net Worth) Investors.
One only needs to engage with the Private Banks, Wealth Managers, or Mega Banks to understand the issue here. These institutions are spending nothing on ESG and Impact Investing capacity building. Spending is going to the following:
ICT
Cybersecurity
Compliance
Capital Buffers
Traditional marketing
Bonuses
With this lack of commitment financially, psychologically and emotionally, ESG and Impact are just new products to add to the list of offerings to clients. It is not an important strategy!
It seems that the financial institutions are schizophrenic. All of them don’t want to be seen as a Sustainable, Impact or Values Bank, because they are afraid that clients or staff might leave . However, they also don’t want to be seen as a Bank not embracing ESG, Impact and Values Investing. Make up your mind. You can’t be partially pregnant. To paraphrase Danny Ocean asking Linus Caldwell in Ocean’s 11. “Your either in our out.”
I have met with many Private Banks and Wealth Managers. Nearly all seem to be really out of touch with clients wishes, particularly nextgen clients. The lack of commitment to see the opportunity for clients and the bank is beyond belief. Most of the time it is lip service and most of the time the banks just want to learn some tricks to convince their clients that they understand enough. However, when we (TBLI Group) speak to clients, they are keen, looking and open to a Values Investing strategy. When we ask “do you want a financial return with a social and environmental added values”, they all say, “absolutely. Can you do that?” If you want to you can. No one ever said to me “No I want all my money to make life miserable for everyone and I am working at that 24 hours a day.”
I have heard for years that the problem is the client. They are not interested. I don’t believe that anymore. Sure there are some clients that don’t believe or are not convinced. That is an educational exercise. Do the work to convince. When TBLI started, nearly 25 years ago, educating asset owners and managers, there was no PRI, CDP, EVPA, AVPN, Eurosif. No infrastructure at all. However, TBLI was still able to make inroads, and help build that infrastructure, because we were committed.
Recently, I was at FT seminar on ESG and Japan. The entire day was taken up with complaints by asset managers complaining that ESG date is not good enough. Over and over and over. They kept repeating “ESG is not Good Enough”. I have heard this for 25 years. The moderator asked are there any questions from the audience. I raised my hand and said that “I have heard for 25 years this complaint that ESG Data is not good enough. Why don’t you ever say that the financial data is not good enough? We have gone through a financial meltdown, Maddoff, Worldcom, Parmelat, Enron, etc. The financial sector has lost trillions of dollars and there has never been a single company that went bankrupt on questionable esg data.” I was told that my comment was not a question and we moved on.
Perhaps no one will take a leadership role to own the Values Investing space. That’s fine, but the market or clients are there. Particularly when we dispel the myth that there are no deals. There is no shortage of deals. There is a lack of infrastructure to find illiquid opportunities, at scale. They exist but they are not to be found in traditional places. Different neighbourhood. Doesn’t mean they don’t exists.
TBLI has spent 25 years educating asset owners and managers about ESG and Impact Investing. Convincing has never been a challenge, particularly when you speak to wealth holders. Banks need to allocate the resources needed to dominate the space and grow the industry. They need to approach this as they would if it was an M&A. Until that time, the only big story will be the press releases coming out about how such and such a bank is committed to Values Investing .
To paraphrase Yoda “Do or do not, there is no try”.
A pig and a chicken were walking down the road. As they passed a church, they notice that a potluck charity breakfast was under way. Caught up in the spirit, the pig suggested to the chicken that they each make a contribution.
“Great Idea!” the chicken cried. “Let’s offer them ham and eggs!”
“Not so fast.” said the pig. “For you, that’s just a contribution, but for me, it’s a total commitment.”
In March, I did an extensive road show in Asia, visiting Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok. It was quite intense. Some days I had nearly 8 meetings, but definitely worth it.
What struck me the most is that Asia has gotten the Values Investing bug, big time. Nearly all the presentations that I gave, and the people I met, and executive briefings I had, were not about why, but all about how. It seems a tipping point had been reached, at least by the people I was meeting. They all were curious as to why there was so much interest and what had happened to spark this interest. What were the drivers?
The presentations I made were about how Values (ESG and Impact) Investing had become mainstream and what has happened in the last 25 years to change the mindset of investors. The list below were very influential , as well as the efforts of many building the ecosystem of ESG and Impact, including TBLi.
25 year Milestones
Carbon Tracker
Freshfields I & II
UNPRI
Equator Principles-50m – 10m
Carbon Disclosure Project
Montreal Pledge
The Asians all felt that the Europeans were way ahead of the curve and very keen on Values Investing, from the beginning. I had to correct that perception. When TBLI started, there was little to no infrastructure to lay the ground work for ESG and Impact. The notion that the entire financial sector jumped up and gave TBLI a big hug, and embraced us, is a myth. It was a long hard slog.
I remember this experience vividly.
When I started (late 1990’s), I was invited to speak to the Dutch Insurance Association about Climate Risk and Sustainability. I started my talk explaining that a country below sea level should start to be concerned about the risks that rising sea levels would cause. The response from the large insurance Companies present was, “It’s not a problem for us if sea level rises, we don’t cover salt water damage.”. One could be come angry at the low level of understanding of that response, or translate in their language. I chose the later, by saying, “That is true, but you sell mortgages, and if 200.000 homes are submerged in water due to seal level rise, which become worthless, you have a big problem.”
Speaking in the language of the person who you are trying to convince has always been key to TBLI’s approach. The moral imperative doesn’t work unless you show the financial risk and opportunity. Don’t shout loudly in German to someone who speaks Chinese.
“Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.”
This year flew by so quickly that I don’t even remember it starting. It was a a great year for TBLI and the Values Investing Community. It seems that the focus has shifted from the why to the how. More and more investors, wealth holders, pension funds, family offices, Next Gen, are discovering that they can use their investments to address social and environmental challenges and achieve a financial return.
We were extremely busy traveling in Europe and Asia, to help expand the values investing community. As a result of all these efforts, we now have two dates for TBLI CONFERENCE. The European Event will be held in Zurich at Volkshaus, June 12-13 and the Asian Event will be held in Singapore at SMU, Nov. 7-8. Save the dates.
Here is a small overview of our travels:
Keynote address in Hong Kong at the Asian Family Office Association
Extensive presentations in Hong Kong
Lectures in Beijing and Shanghai
Keynote at Social Investment Forum in Beijing
Bangkok presentations on SDG Investing
Family Office Event in Dubai
World Business Angels Forum Istanbul
Dutch Business School Lecture
Roadshows in London
Roadshows in Stockholm
Co-authored Book on ESG Investing published
Impact Park Milan Keynote address and Chairing panel
Family Office Wiesbaden
Keynote Shanghai Asset Allocation
Wedding Beirut
Chairing session London African SME Conference
Chairing Impact Investing Lunch London
Keynote Zug Impact Summit
Roadshows in Zurich arranging TBLI EUROPE 2019, ZURICH, June 12-13
TBLI Inspiration Weekend Scotland
TBLI Dinner Paris
TBLI Nordic 2019 Stockholm
Keynote in Milan for Global Thinking Foundation
Chairing PE Afternoon Lunch Zurich
Keynote Chantilly Global Youth Forum
3 day road show Singapore arranging partners and date for TBLI ASIA 2019, Nov. 7-8
I need a long sleep. What was inspiring of all these meetings, talks and road shows was the passion, support and enthusiasm that greeted me everywhere. People knew TBLI and responded extremely well to the story and were all very complimentary of our work for the past 25 years. I always say we are an overnight success after a quarter century.
I want to thank Greta Thunberg for saying the Radical Truth at the COP 24 in Katowice, and reminding us that we won’t wait for the policy makers. If you haven’t seen the speech, watch it now. Go Greta!
Great Read for the holidays
This is a great book about the real life experience of living and working in Bhutan over a time period of 25 years. Rieki Crins tells the story of falling in love with the country as a graduate student and coming back many times to establish a hotel school for young Bhutanese. What happened next – see the title. Engaging and full of vivd stories from a time and place that no longer exist.
Order now. Perfect Christmas Gift for you, friend or family.
The Gift that keeps Giving – TBLI Foundation
If you have benefited from the activities of TBLI, I would like you to support the TBLI Foundation by making a contribution to our non-profit entity. This will allow us to continue our educational outreach and provide scholarships to social entrepreneurs to attend TBLI Conference. For those that need a tax efficient channel (United Kingdom, Hong Kong and the United States) TBLI can offer that through Shared Impact. Thank you.
From the TBLI team, we wish you all an enjoyable, inspiring and prosperous New Year and let’s make 2019 the year where finance shows true leadership in dealing with Climate Change.
