In this episode, I speak with Bertrand Gacon, Co-Founder and CEO at Impaakt. Impaakt is an impact assessment platform that crowdsources information from hundreds of contributors and thousands of reviewers. My favorite insights from this conversation were: I can highly recommend to try out the platform. You can explore company profiles, follow discussions, and put in your personal view of what is important and generate lists of companies or funds that are either “heroes” or “villains” given...

In this episode, I had the pleasure of talking to Christoph Gosdenoz, partner and chairman of FairCapital. FairCapital is an impact investor based in Switzerland that specializes in financing solutions for Fairtrade cooperatives in the global south. My favorite insights from this conversation were:  It’s the specific design and timing rather than just the interest rate that determines whether a loan helps a cooperative.  One of FairCapital’s innovations is to use existing purchase agreements...

In this episode, I sit down with Sam Vionnet, the author of Impact Thinking, subtitled “Learn critical thinking skills to make better decisions that create societal value”.   The book is based on 15 years of experience in consulting with multinational corporations, NGOs, and investors. Sam reveals that there are a lot of beliefs that don’t stand up to scrutiny. Rather than blindly following numbers and standards, he advocates for a principled approach that, first of all, establishes what...

Can you imagine voting yourself on who should sit on the board of a company you are invested in? Perhaps on your cell-phone?   In this episode, I discuss with Georgia Stewart, Co-founder and CEO of Tumelo, how their technology democratizes shareholder voting and explore the opportunities and risks that direct shareholder voting presents in the context of sustainable finance.   Nowadays, shareholder voting is usually delegated to asset managers, raising questions about whether the voice of the...

In this episode, I had a conversation with Philippe van der Beck, who wrote a fascinating paper (work in progress) titled "Flow-driven ESG returns". The paper highlights that investing $1 in sustainable mutual funds can increase the value of green firms by 40 cents. This raises questions about whether ESG investing really has an impact. Philippe explains in detail how he arrived at this statement. He cautions that the impact is limited to the stock price, and it is challenging to say how it...

Did you know that the University of St. Gallen in collaboration with Solarify offers the opportunity to invest into solar panels on their gym rooftop? In this episode, I talk to Aurel Schmid, founder of Solarify. Together we dive into the finance and impact behind crowd-founded solar panels and discover how small scale investor can have an impact towards green energy. We find out what makes the solar rooftop project at the University of St. Gallen special and what kind of return and impact...

In this episode, I talk to Lena Hörnlein, a senior manager at B-Capital Partners. Our discussion revolves around the interaction between sustainable finance regulations, including SFDR, and the operational landscape of a fund exclusively centered on energy transition assets. Lena provides a detailed explanation of how the regulation works. Interestingly, Lena's fund has opted for Article 8 as opposed to Article 9, a decision grounded in caution. Ultimately, we conclude by underscoring the...

In this episode, I talk to Christine Chow about active ownership. Christine explains what it is, its dos and dont's, and what investors can bring to the table that companies do not know yet. We explore the tension that the best kind of active ownership is the most difficult to make visible, come up with an idea for professional certification, and Christine explains that being good at engaging is like being good at riding a horse.

Did you know that most large European corporations compensate executives for reaching ESG targets? Is that a good thing, and how should this be done? I discuss these fascinating questions with Tom Gosling, perhaps the world's most experienced expert regarding ESG compensation. I learned a lot in this episode! Some (but not all) of my favorite insights: Even if ESG targets contribute to long-term shareholder value, it can make sense to incentivize middle managers on ESG because they are...

I talk with Per Einar Ellefsen, CEO and founder of Amundsen IM, a fund that specializes in the European primary equity market. We have a long conversation about the role of ESG factors in the IPO process, from the angle of risk assessment, investment performance, and impact. Along the way, we talk about a lot of interesting companies: Azelis, Verallia, Visma, Eurogroup Laminations, and EDP Renewables.  https://amundsen-im.com

In this episode, Stephanie and I delve into sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) to explore their potential benefits and risks. SLBs have grown to a USD 280 billion market and represent an exciting alternative to green bonds in the sustainable debt market. When issuing an SLB, companies pledge to reach a sustainability performance target as part of the contract. If the company does not reach the target, the bond investors receive an additional “step-up” coupon. We analyze the example of a...

In this episode, I talk to Jan Anton van Zanten, a sustainable investing expert at Robeco. We discuss Robeco's open-source SDG scores, a unique approach to measuring companies' sustainability performance. We also delve into the importance of understanding the impact of companies on society and the environment, and how engaging with companies can drive positive change. Finally, we touch on Robeco's decision to make their data open source and how academics and others can benefit from that. Link...

In this episode, I talk with Philipp Aeby, founder and CEO of RepRisk, an ESG data provider. We discuss how innovations in artificial intelligence have changed the way RepRisk processes data. We then move on to the role of transparency, how it can help to improve business conduct globally, as well as about the transparency of RepRisk’s own data generating process. Links to some of the things we talk about https://www.reprisk.com/research-lab For questions or feedback write to...

I ask Harald Walkate why he thinks blended finance is like music. Harald knows about finance, he has 25 years of experience, having worked at Natixis Investment Managers and Aegon Asset Management. He also knows about music, he plays the piano really well. Harald explains how blended finance works, and how it transforms the idea of "sustainable finance" into "financing sustainability". Along the way, we talk about wind turbines in Mali, Milton Friedman, how to access deep pockets, and scoring...

Sustainable Finance has become an important phenomenon in financial markets but is still a new field. That means, there are new things happening every day. It is important to keep innovating in this field, and to critically evaluate what is going on. In this podcast, Julian Kölbel discusses ideas in sustainable finance. New ideas, good ideas, even dangerous ideas. He invites guests who are doing something novel, something interesting, something different that is worth discussing. His goal is...