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20/30 Visions #19: Graham Cook on building an impact portfolio

Welcome to 20/30 Visions, a new Bridges series in which we ask experts and thought-leaders from around the globe: what needs to change if we want to build a more sustainable and inclusive future in the next decade? And how do we make that change happen?

It’s clear that we need more big investors to allocate more of their capital towards sustainability and impact. But what does this actually look like in practice? How do institutions get from broad ambitions or long-term commitments (achieving Net Zero, say) to specific portfolio construction decisions?

These are the some of the questions we address in 20/30 Visions this week with our guest Graham Cook, who leads on responsible investment at The Phoenix Group. Graham was previously CIO at the Environment Agency Pension Fund, where he put together an industry-leading sustainable investment programme. Now he’s applying some of the same principles at Phoenix, albeit on a substantially bigger scale. We discuss:

  • The key steps in implementing a Net Zero commitment
  • Setting the right benchmarks
  • Working with pooling partners
  • The importance of natural capital
  • Why things could get worse before they get better
  • and more...

 

Watch our conversation here:

Or you can download Graham's insights to read as a PDF below:

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