Welcome to our podcast series: Sustainability Insights… in conversation.
In this series, thought-leaders join us to discuss topical ESG issues for the private markets.
Listen to a discussion between Travers Smith's Simon Witney and Cornelia Gomez, Global Head of ESG at General Atlantic. Simon and Cornelia discuss the outlook for regulation in 2024, differing global perspectives on sustainability, and responsible AI.
Our second episode of Sustainability Insights … in conversation charts Kristen Weldon's journey to natural capital in private markets. Simon Witney and John Buttanshaw from Travers Smith's ESG team talk to Kristen about the importance of nature and biodiversity, explore some of the investible opportunities for the private markets, and discuss UK and EU legal and regulatory initiatives.
As Kristen says, there is no net zero without nature, but we have taken nature for granted for too long. Since 1970, wildlife populations have declined by an average of 69%. Today, more than 1 million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction. The private markets have the capital, time and influence to have a real impact, and policymakers are increasing the opportunities to deliver market-rate returns.
Our third episode of Sustainability Insights … in conversation focuses on impact investing, and what impact means to Apax Partners.
In a conversation with Simon Witney, Ellen De Kreij, lead advisor to Apax’s Operational Excellence Practice on Impact and Sustainability, explains how Apax selects impact investments, how they work with management to promote impact, and how they report on impact to their investors.
Apax were early adopters of sustainability, having started to focus on their portfolio companies' ESG footprints in 2012, and have exemplified the power of the private markets to effect real world change.
In the fourth episode of our Sustainability Insights … in conversation series, Simon Witney speaks to Diandra Soobiah, Director of Responsible Investment at Nest, the National Employment Savings Trust. Their discussion explores Nest's significant commitments to the private markets and, with 15% of Nest's £42 billion AUM allocated to private markets, Diandra explains what more she wants to see from the sector.
In this episode, Simon Witney and Tom Gosling, Visiting Senior Fellow in the Law School at London School Economics and co-author of "Does Sustainable Investing Work?", discuss the role of the public and private markets in delivering real world change.
The conversation explores how responsible investment can improve risk-adjusted returns, align values, and mitigate real world problems.
A series of regular briefings for the alternative asset management industry
