Finance for Impact Summit highlights

The City of London Corporation, along with its partners the Impact Investing Institute and KPMG, were delighted to host the Finance for Impact Summit on 18 July 2022. This event, held at Mansion House, brought together leaders of finance, business, policymaking and other institutions from around the world to discuss how we scale capital deployed to deliver positive and measurable social outcomes.

The Summit, sponsored by Schroders, saw the launch of new initiatives designed to elevate the “S” alongside the “E” in ESG, as well as key insights and productive discussions from participants.

Highlights from the Finance for Impact Summit include:

• Launch of the Just Transition Finance Challenge: A coalition of 18 global public and private investors with over £3.6tn of assets and assets under management were revealed as the Founding Participants of the Just Transition Finance Challenge, a new initiative launched by the Impact Investing Institute, designed to mobilise capital into investments that support a Just Transition to net zero.
  
  Speaking at the Summit were panellists Laurie Spengler from Courageous Capital Advisors, Sharon Johnson from AgilityEco, Maria Nazarova-Doyle from Scottish Widows and Anne-Marie Chidzero from FSD Africa Investments.  They explained why the Challenge is needed – principally that net zero won’t happen unless people are taken along the journey and that social consequences of the transition must be taken into account. The panellists discussed how the Challenge will enable investors to meet their commitments towards achieving net zero and help develop investment products that deliver the critical elements of a Just Transition.

• A new industry report for scaling finance for impacts: The Summit saw the launch of a new report developed by KPMG through consultation with over 70 banking, wealth and asset management, insurance and pensions, and private equity firms. The report contains recommendations focused on scaling the deployment of finance to deliver positive and measurable outcomes for both the environment and society. Discussing the report were Dr Kay Swinburne from KPMG, Vindi Banga from Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Anne-Marie Verstraeten from BNP Paribas, Zelda Bentham from Aviva and Andy Howard from Schroders.  They discussed the recommendations and their importance, including the need to develop consistent and coherent social impact goals at firm level. 

• Keynote speeches from Richard Curtis, Founder, Make My Money Matter; Richard Fuller MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Nigel Huddleston MP, Minister for Civil Society, DCMS. In his first speech since being appointed City Minister, Richard Fuller announced that the UK was moving to clamp down on firms abusing the environmental, social and governance (ESG) label  via so-called ‘greenwashing’. Nigel Huddleston meanwhile highlighted the importance of place-based impact investing to drive investment that creates positive outcomes for communities across the UK.

• Policy and regulation debate: The Summit featured a discussion on the tools and regulation needed to increase flows of capital into impact investments, featuring Sacha Sadan, FCA, Catherine Howarth, ShareAction, Jonathan Labrey, ISSB and Clara Barby, Just Climate. During this session, issues such as labelling standards and KPIs were raised, as ways to help consumers understand and trust in impact investing products, as well as other measures to promote good investor stewardship of companies with regard to their social impact.

• Case studies showcasing best practice examples of finance for impact in the UK and beyond: We heard from Charles Prideaux from Schroders and Anna Shiel, from Big Society Capital about the Schroders BSC Social Impact Trust, which allows ordinary investors access to private market impact investment for the first time, and from Mark Bickford, Social and Sustainable Capital on the learnings and successes of working with Hull Women’s Network. Pete Gladwell from Legal and General and Jane Robinson from Newcastle University highlighted the benefits of place-based impact investing through their work on Newcastle Helix – a 24-acre city hub, putting Newcastle firmly on the map for major national and international scientific research and tech businesses.
• The Summit also heard from John McCalla-Leacy, KPMG in the UK, Amit Rama, Macquarie, Reyburn Hendricks, H1 Holdings and Tutu Agyare, Nubuke Investment on how finance can create positive social impact in emerging markets.