The roundtable covered a round up of our Investment strategy and latest innovation and highlighted why being a leading force in responsible investment is significant and the overall importance of measuring responsible investment iniatives.

The presentations and live demo are available below to watch again or share with colleagues:

Speakers :
Hosted by Peter Jackson, Business Development Manager

Elizabeth Fernando, Chief Investment Officer
Diandra Soobiah, Head of Responsible Investment

The slides from the webinar are available here: September roundtable slides

During the roundtable we received some additional questions which we did not have time for, answers can be found below:

Q. How do you think about your own capacity to invest, particularly in private markets? Both in terms of markets and internal capabilities.
A. We have an expert internal team who have done an excellent job selecting managers and then post appointment holding them to account. Bringing more specialist resource into the private markets team is allowing us to think in greater depth about our appetite for different flavours of risk and return within each asset class. Our partnership with IFM is an excellent example of this – we are working collaboratively to co-design new investment strategies which meet specific Nest requirements but which will also be interesting to other asset owners. Once the fund is launched, IFM take responsibility for sourcing and due diligencing investments and the ongoing management of them.

Q. What do you see as the biggest RI trends over the next few years?

  • Climate Adaptation Gaining Momentum – in the medium term, the focus may move from transition risk to adaptation to climate change and better preparedness for extreme weather hazards. As climate events worsen Governments might need to step up policy to reduce carbon emissions drastically – this could bring more severe transition risks for companies and investors whilst physical climate risks play out.
  • AI – investors will start to understand the real implications including the risk and opportunities of AI on businesses and society. We are more likely to be using AI-Driven ESG Analysis and Reporting to help with our own activities.
  • Loosening of regulation and mandatory ESG reporting – softer regulatory frameworks are likely to form the bedrock of risk management and reporting, but companies are likely to report on their activities on their own terms, this might bring even less consistent and standardised reporting for investors.