Blog

Dr. Emiko Caerlewy-Smith (Picture by Dr. Emiko Caerlewy-Smith) (30417637)

One of the pioneers is Dr. Emiko Caerlewy-Smith, whose consulting firm KIT advises on environmental, social and governance investments, called ESG for short.

Given the issues like combating climate change and diversity that are so high on the political agenda, Dr. Caerlewy-Smith is committed to raising awareness that placing capital in the right places can make a big difference.

She said that making sure your retirement pension is ethical could be a good example, which she explained could have a much bigger impact than most people realized.

‘Recently Nordea Bank produced a fascinating statistic that shows that the personal carbon footprint of our pension is 27 times greater than our personal carbon footprint, how much meat we eat, how many flights we take and how energy efficient ours are Home is and a host of other personal carbon choices we make, ”she said.

“The global fixed income industry is valued at $ 30 trillion out of $ 100 trillion in assets under management.

“If you can use that $ 30 trillion to help meet the Sustainable Development Goals so that investors can still get a return on their money so they can pay for their retirement benefits, then that’s a long way to go.

Richard Curtis of Four Weddings and Funeral recently launched a campaign called Make my Money Matter to encourage us as individuals to question where our pension is invested and these pressures and investor impact on our pension exercise trustees of the system to make better investment decisions that are geared towards positive impact of the ESG. “

A signature project for KIT this year is the education campaign #BuildBackBetter, which is being started with the design agency The Potting Shed and Rathbones Investment Management. Simultaneously with the launch of Jersey Finance’s sustainable finance strategy, select individuals are to be trained as island leaders in next-generation sustainable finance.

‘We are looking for 30 participants from banks, asset managers, funds, trust companies and lawyers. The whole series of industry reports, ”she said.

“And we will also invite participants from financial services quangos, government organizations and other professional services consultancies if interested.

“It’s a year-long program where we hold virtual meetings every two months. Each meeting is about a different sustainable finance topic and we bring in experts from outside and on the island to lead those meetings.”

She added, “It’s very educational and covers things like the technical aspects of incorporating ESG factors into investment decisions or creating an organization with shared value. These are practical and sustainable consulting tools that we are making available to this cohort of 30 next-generation executives free of charge so that they can embed them organically in their organizations. I think these new skills are critical to the future of the Jersey financial services industry. ‘

In addition to its on-site work, KIT is also active in the international field and will be involved in promoting sustainable financing at this year’s G20 summit.

Dr. Caerlewy-Smith said this shows the impact Jersey’s corporate sector and rich skill base could have on global affairs.

‘There are some big global initiatives going on this year. We have the COP 26 in Great Britain and the G20 summit this year, which KIT supports in a fascinating way, ”she said.

‘We are working with the UN Development Program, which will serve as the G20 Secretariat in Rome in October. We help set the agenda and do the research that will be included in the sustainable finance agenda.

‘So we have this little business consultancy here in Jersey and we can still contribute to these global problems. I think it’s really important that our customers and our community we work in, our local financial services community, can get started. If we can all start to contribute to this global picture of ESG and sustainability, then we have a real opportunity because we have highly qualified people here and understand how to deal with wealth. ‘

She added, “We could even increase this attraction for Jersey as the sustainable finance employer of choice to contribute to more sustainable financial literacy. Hopefully it is a self sustaining and empowering community that we are building in sustainable funding. I think investor sentiment for the positive ESG-related impact has definitely grown over the past year with Covid and has already improved anyway. Really, we’re just pushing open an open door. ‘

Younger generations like Millennials are known for their passion for the environment and ethics, and finance managers expect this to change investment patterns as wealth and power increasingly come into their hands.

Dr. Caerlewy-Smith said, however, that it is not only the “new generation” who think differently and that investing in ESG makes economic sense along with ethical issues.

“I think we’re starting to see two things. First, the ESG factors are just common sense as environmental, social and governance factors will affect the success and therefore the value of a company over time, “she said.

“If you fail to properly manage your environmental or social risks as a publicly traded company, your share price will at some point feel the effects as it poses a material financial risk to your company.

‘Investors are getting more interested because they see the risk side of the problem. They see ESG factors as a risk to stock prices and company performance. ‘

She added, “The other side of the coin is that Covid-19 has just sparked this more ethical and moral interest in ESG issues where people are simply realizing that this is the right thing to do to make our planet and people better to take care of it.

“Hopefully we are now motivated to want to change our behavior. And not only does it make sense because it controls our ESG risk or because it is the right thing to do, it also makes sense because now we’ve actually seen what happens when you don’t properly manage and care for our environment. ‘