Failure to deliver is nothing new

Revised plans for HS2.....?

With anger about HS2 being cancelled, a colleague suggested I look at what an Irresponsible Investor looked like and so I took myself off to Auntie Google.

You probably won't be surprised to hear the search for Irresponsible Investors delivered many, many results. The one that struck me was published by the New York Times magazine on June 6 2004 - see what I mean about nothing new?

The main thrust of the article is to highlight how the behaviour of investors can affect the outcomes.

''Outside pressures'' from investors, write the Google founders, ''too often tempt companies to sacrifice long-term opportunities to meet quarterly market expectations.''

So how will that impact the conversation about the macroeconomic environment that will take place between leaders Denise Le Gal Jamie Broderick Deputy Head of DIT Gus Wiseman and Morten Nilsson ?

The American investor's short-term greed leads him to be more interested in the appearance of a business than its substance.

Is it reasonable to ask Fund Owners, Asset Managers, Advisors & Regulators to juggle the demands of long term Sustainable Development Goals while still putting plentiful food on the table of their investors & stakeholders?

A troubling picture for the importance for ESG

In a recent blog post on RAOGlobal, it Investors said that ESG is not a key driver of their decision making. Who can blame big Investors for feeling torn between pillar and post?

Investors, in their shortsightedness, encourage companies to neglect their social responsibility reports the NYT. To save themselves, the Google Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin concocted an extraordinary plan to contribute 1 percent of their company's profits to something called the Google Foundation.

This, they seem to think, would strike their audience as a radical idea because the audience consists, mainly, of investors. The Google Founders went on to say;

The investor, of course, likes to think of himself as a force for honesty and transparency, but he has proved, in recent years, that he prefers a lucrative lie to an expensive truth.''We believe strongly that in the long term we will be better served -- as shareholders and in all other ways -- by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short-term gains,''

To put the period of time into context for this radical thinking by the young Founders, the Republican ticket of incumbent President George W. Bush and his running mate incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney were elected to a second term, defeating the Democratic ticket of John Kerry, a United States senator from Massachusetts

Senator Kerry of course, is now better known for as a Special Presidential Envoy for Climate which most will has brought short and long term goals into sharp collision with the announcement the global temperatures are heating up even quicker than predicted

.Fundamentally, whether Responsible Investing is called ESG, Impact Investing or Sustainable Investing, sentiment and commitment are not always aligned - on all sides. In summary, the letter these revolutionaries published in their letter to stock market investors nearly two decades ago, summed up the challenge of responsible/irresponsible investors turns on its head the moral verdict of the Internet/investment boom: in the world according to Google, investors aren't victims but perps.

That's you and me by the way. Just saying.

But how does that impact decisions about investment strategies in the European financial community? Find out on Oct 25th at #RAOEurope23

#assetmanagers #fundowners #pensionfunds #advisors #ROIs #SDGs

Book your ticket now!

About Adrienne Lawler, Founder of RAO Global Events

The highlight of every RAO conference, comes when you see the lights go on in people's heads, the conversations buzzing and business cards being exchanged so that relationships can continue, way beyond the day itself.

I love it!

I founded RAO Global events to bring together the best and the brightest from the Global Asset community to share their insights and knowledge about the challenges and opportunities within Responsible Investing.

The highlight of every event, comes when you see the lights go on in people's heads, the conversations buzzing and cards being exchanged so that relationships can continue, way beyond the day itself.

Starting in Europe, it quickly expanded to include the important regions of the Americas & APAC where Responsible Investing faces a different and varied set of challenges and opportunities.

Thought Leaders address the importance of responsible and transparent investment through sound ESG policies, Transparency & Impact Investing.

Listen to country case studies and debate whether it is time for the UK government to tap into bond markets and launch its own Sovereign Wealth Fund.Each event creates a forum that focusses on key issues facing both Fund Owners & Asset Managers and are significant events in the Financial Markets calendar.

Developing strategies that deliver powerful messages with measurable impact.

It's clear that to be successful in this important and highly competitive industry, there needs to be collaboration and innovation to deliver the best returns for all Investors and Stake Holders.

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