Throughout history, new technologies have demanded step shifts in the skills that companies need. Like the First Industrial Revolution’s steam-powered factories, the Second Industrial Revolution’s mass-production tools and techniques, and the Third Industrial Revolution’s internet-based technologies, the Fourth Industrial Revolution — currently being driven by the convergence of new digital, biological, and physical technologies —...Read More

Mark Twain once said the two greatest days in a person’s life are the day they’re born and the day they discover why. Deep? Definitely. But let’s be honest: the first day is a somewhat passive experience. The second day, however, can feel like a lot of pressure. While some of us can quickly identify...Read More

Chirag Mehta, Senior fund manager, alternative investments, Quantum Mutual Fund Allocate 20% of equity investment to ESG funds ESG investing replaces the question: “How much return?” with “How much sustainable return?” Claims that you have to surrender returns to engage in sustainable investing are flawed. Evidence suggests it often boosts the risk-adjusted rate of return....Read More

Why should fixed-income investors factor sustainability into their investment decisions, and what are the approaches available to them? What drives an impactful engagement with a credit issuer? These are some of the key questions Hermes EOS clients and prospective investors ask about ESG and engagement in fixed-income markets. Here Mitch Reznick, head of research and...Read More

The Brief  |  January 28, 2020 The Brief: Capital on the Frontier call, guaranteed impact, cash allocations, SDG six-pack, Techstars’ Atlanta impact, all-electric GM, steady pay     ImpactAlpha Greetings, Agents of Impact!  Signals: Ahead of the Curve Funders pool $33 million in credit guarantees to catalyze community investments. Philanthropic commitments to cover loan losses could catalyze hundreds of...Read More

It’s a buzzword that’s slowly starting to lose its flavour for many – disruption – yet this intersection between innovation, originality and necessity promises a revolution of the status-quo. As use of the term spread from places like Silicon Valley to innovations developed in garages in one-horse towns, the intensity and hype get turned to...Read More

The challenge of accurate renewable energy load forecasting may be helped by utilising Artificial Intelligence, writes Sid Sachdeva. The shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources comes as welcome news for the environment. While plants powered by oil, coal and gas hasten climate change with their carbon emissions, wind turbines and solar panels have...Read More

Given the high-stakes reallocation Mr. Fink predicted, sustainability likely will become the standard for the whole investment industry, sources agreed. Investment in sustainable, responsible and impact strategies by U.S. investors totaled $11.6 trillion in the U.S. in 2018, up 38% from 2016, per the U.S. SIF Foundation’s most recent biennial U.S. Sustainable, Responsible and Impact...Read More

It was the usual setup for panelists at a finance conference talking about making smart investments. They were all the same gender. In this case, all women. That probably wasn’t surprising, considering the event was hosted by the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment. Still, Karine Hirn, founding partner at East Capital in Hong Kong,...Read More

Facing an increasing number of requests for its users’ information, Google began charging law enforcement and other government agencies this month for legal demands seeking data such as emails, location tracking information and search queries. Google’s fees range from $45 for a subpoena and $60 for a wiretap to $245 for a search warrant, according...Read More