Food is the medicine we put in our mouths everyday, yet on average, we all cook just 12 recipes per year, says Kees Kruythoff, former President for the Global Home Care division for Unilever, former CEO of LIVEKINDLY Collective, now Thematic Chair for Sustainable Food for Summa Equity. But if we want to build a sustainable food system, one that works for everyone, globally, we should start by changing at least one of our recipes to something plant based.  The world's biggest hunger, says...

If you really want to form a high-performing team, says Stefan Beiten, entrepreneur, lawyer, film producer and public speaker, one that’s normative, collaborative, and takes accountability on all levels, you need conscious leadership. “To move consciously from the I to the We and utilize the collective wisdom and collective intelligence that gives us, whether that's in your own organization or in the local community, or on a high level, if we are able to do that, we can solve a lot of the...

We're not formed as one individual with no ability to change, says Adam Grant, organizational psychologist at Wharton and best-selling international author, we can retrain, we can all grow and change, we can all find our hidden potential. The question is, what do we need to do to bring out the best in ourselves and those around us?  In this episode of Summa & Friends, Adam discusses boundary setting, why we need a network of disagreeable givers, why we need to ask for advice rather than...

If your workplace is all love and hallelujah, says Gianpiero Petriglieri, Professor of Organizational Behavior at INSEAD, and one of the 50 most influential management thinkers in the world, then it’s a cult. If you want your organization to be high performing, you need some friction and debate, because we can’t always be real and feel good.  “My passion is this idea of humanizing leadership, of making space for all that is messy and contradicting and complicated in people and in the systems...

Norway plans to be a low carbon economy by 2050, but the transition to get there keeps getting delayed, says Martin Skancke, Chairman of the Norwegian government's commission on transition to a low carbon economy, and Chairman of PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) and board member in several companies.  We’re thinking too short term, says Martin, we aren’t looking at a long time horizon and therefore we’re increasing the risk as we run out of time. What needs to happen is for all...

We need strong private equity leaders to tackle the current challenges in the private equity investing space, says Tanya Carmichael, systems thinker, private equity investor, and return-on-impact advisor for ESG in PE & Pension Funds. And that leadership has to be authentic and genuine, inclusive and open.  In this episode of Summa & Friends, Tanya discusses how investment leaders can amplify their impact, how they can leverage holistic systems thinking to embed ESG initiatives in...

Over 20% of Europe’s CO2 emissions are a result of a linear economy, a number which can be reduced by 55% if we transition to a circular economy, says Bertrand Camus, former CEO of French multinational utility company SUEZ, now partner at Summa Equity.  But that’s not the only reason to make the change… Moving to a circular economy has a potential value creation opportunity of between EUR 1-2 trillion, not to mention all the jobs that go along with that.  And given the size and magnitude of...

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been described as a business plan for the world, highlighting 17 broad problem areas for which the world needs to find solutions. While originally intended for governments, the UN SDGs is also a powerful framework for investors who have both financial and sustainability objectives.    Creating truly sustainable portfolios is hard and requires a fundamental rethink of the entire investment process to incorporate impact as a third...

How do you make your money? Does your business have morals? The world is changing, says Alison Taylor, Clinical Professor at NYU Stern School of Business and Executive Director at Ethical Systems. People care, consumers care, employees care, everyone has started caring more. And if you want to futureproof your organization, you need to put morals back into it.  It's not about how much money a company makes now, it's about how you make your money, and who wins and who loses while you’re doing...

Imagine playing a video game where data about you in the moment is being collected with sensor technology, performance metrics, emotional responses, body movements, brain activity. And this is all used in real time to guide the environment you're experiencing, personalizing both the challenges and rewards to improve your cognition.  No, this isn’t the plot of a sci-fi movie.  We’re in the midst of a cognition crisis and experiences are a powerful way of changing our brain, says Adam Gazzaley,...

Sir Ronald (Ronnie) Cohen, a preeminent philanthropist, venture capitalist, private equity investor, and impact pioneer is driving the global Impact Revolution. Ronnie's nearly two decades of initiatives in impact investment have catalyzed global efforts towards social and environmental good, through business and investment. With advances in technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, Ronnie says the impact revolution has never been more possible. The fact that technology...

Why does it matter that we learn to navigate failure? Because, says Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School and author of global bestseller, Psychological Safety, and soon, her upcoming book The Right Kind of Wrong: The science of failing well, the only mistake we make in this life is not trying.  “We live in a time of increasing uncertainty and interdependence. Either one of those factors creates the inevitability of some failures along...

Collaboration is key to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), says John W McArthur, co-founder and co-chair of 17 Rooms, an innovative method for advancing helping people take the Sustainable Development Goals into their own hands, driving action through cooperation at all scales of community.  Right now, says John, while positive progress is being made on some of the SDGs, elsewhere others are going sideways, and some are even going backwards.  “The only way to...

How do you lead despite ambiguity in the world of sustainable investing? That’s the question Zoe Bulger, Impact Manager at Summa Equity is discussing on this episode of Summa & Friends.  With more traditional actors entering the Impact ESG space, and lots of regulatory movement as well, Zoe shares some of the challenges and shifts defining this moment With a background in the social sector focused on supporting mission-oriented founders and organizations, Zoe’s role at Summa is all about...

If you focus on trying to change the lives of just five people it will bring you meaning, says Roberto Verganti, Professor of Leadership and Innovation at the Stockholm School of Economics, and Design Theory and Practice at the Harvard Business School, but you won’t bring about much change on a large scale.  But, if every one of the eight billion humans living on this planet changes the lives of five people, we can change the world.  “I really believe that change is connected to human...

Are you paying enough attention to the future needs of your children? Your grandchildren? That is the question driving Conor Kehoe, Chair of the IIRC Council, Senior Adviser and former Senior Partner at Mckinsey & Company.  Striving to make integrated reporting and accounting practices mainstream, Conor is concerned that while Millennials are in the driving seat, demanding corporations have a positive purpose, are they themselves doing enough to influence politicians. On this episode of...

With COP 27 just around the corner, what really is sustainable development and what does the world need most right now to achieve it? Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former Prime Minister of Norway, and chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development, known as the Brundtland Commission, which produced the The Brundtland Report, explores this very topic on Summa & Friends.  From how she achieved full consensus with the Brundtland Commission, to why we need to focus on the...

Having taken over the helm of the family business, LGT, in 2006, H.S.H. Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein founded LGT Venture Philanthropy in 2007 and subsequently Lightrock, a pioneering impact investment firm.   But what drove this prominent member of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein, a family that has been entrepreneurial for centuries, to focus so heavily on impact investing?   In this episode of Summa & Friends, Prince Max shares his passions, his transformational moments, and...

They say be the change you want to see in the world. And one year ago, Tariq Fancy, a former Wall Street investor turned nonprofit founder, wrote an essay sharing how he had gone from evangelizing sustainable investing for the world's largest investment firm, BlackRock, to actually criticizing sustainable investing as a dangerous placebo that harms the public interest. In doing so, he challenged business leaders to prove him wrong.  In this episode of Summa & Friends, Tariq, the CEO of...

Conscious capitalism is the new way of doing business. But how can it create better leaders, better business, and a better world? In this episode of Summa & Friends, founding member and global leader of the Conscious Capitalism movement, and author of The Healing Organisation, Raj Sisodia, shares insights on what conscious capitalism is and how it can help us build a better world.  So, if you’re looking for a way to improve your leadership, improve your organisation, and take people to a...

Summa Equity has multiple points of differentiation from other private equity firms, not least in that they deliver great returns in a sustainable way, powered by the right cultural values.  But what are the right cultural values, and why is it so important to define behaviour?  On this episode of Summa & Friends, early investor in Summa, Mirja Lehmler-Brown, founding Managing Director and Partner at Hayfin Capital Management Private Equity, explains why values, behaviour and culture...

Righting everything that’s going wrong in the world isn’t one person’s responsibility, says Harvard Business School Professor, George Serafeim, the rockstar of ESG. We all have a responsibility to try to bring about good outcomes for society, both environmentally and socially.   So how can purpose and profit in business go hand in hand? And what can large companies and publicly listed firms do to instill a sense of purpose in every employee across the corporation? What actually is ESG? And...

Private equity firms aren’t renowned for helping solve some of society’s most pressing problems: extreme weather events, acute food and water insecurity, biodiversity loss, and economic and social instability, but then most companies that operate in this industry aren’t global investment firm, EQT.   Don’t miss CEO and Managing Partner of EQT, Christian Sinding, on this episode of Summa & Friends, discussing how EQT are actively working towards closing the saying/doing gap by setting...

Climate change, social inequality, resource inefficiency - these aren’t the problems a select few individuals face… These imminent global challenges are going to impact all of us, if we don’t act now.   So, asks Reynir Indahl, founder of private equity firm Summa Equity, do you have the courage to care about a wiser future?   In this inaugural episode of Summa & Friends, Reynir invites listeners to join him in addressing the most pressing of challenges. We need to stop thinking in terms...