Sustainable Investment

As a long-term investor and responsible steward of the assets it manages on behalf of its customers, Old Mutual Africa is on course to becoming the leading responsible investor on the continent, where it has offices in Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Old Mutual Africa’s Responsible Investment Committee spearheads this initiative, ensuring that we continue to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations in the assets in which we invest. Marjorie Mayida shares some of the learnings along her ESG journey into the African investment landscape.

Sustainability—both operational and environmental—is crucial for any enterprise. The pressures on companies are different and more urgent now than they were just ten years ago. Most companies now have business goals based around energy efficiency, reducing waste, and doing more with less, usually for good economic reasons. However, the environmental sustainability of a company is now fully intertwined with its operational sustainability.

We are completely reliant upon healthy natural systems. Unfortunately, not all natural systems are healthy, and only 3% of annual U.S. charitable giving goes to environmental and animal causes.

The exclusion of the poor from participating in, and getting access to, opportunities and activities is a major dimension of poverty that needs to be recognised and addressed. As allocators of capital, we believe that social inclusion considerations must be an integral component of our investment and ownership decisions.

We have coined the phrase “Dark Data,” to describe information on corporate sustainability that exists, but cannot normally be seen and evaluated. Dark Data is exchanged privately as part of supply chain, certification, and regulatory interactions. As such, it forms an important part of how companies interact with their environment.

While the debate over the use of nuclear power continues, the renewable energy sector is quietly forging ahead and independent power producers are adding much-needed capacity to the grid. Since the Department of Energy (DoE) embarked on its alternative energy drive in 2012, capital investments in renewables have totalled almost R200 billion.

South Africa has some of the best natural resources available for solar and wind power. This, together with a reputationally strong and well-run independent power procurement programme, has created opportunities for institutional investors like Futuregrowth − who is now a leading funder of the programme.

Modernization of the U.S. power grid will not only require replacement of old components with new ones, it will also need to account for larger amounts of renewable energy and distributed generation. This movement is causing utilities to consider microgrids as a part of the solution.

Our work, and really everyone’s work, requires long-term vision, long-term commitment, and long-term relationships. Sure, our grants have an “end date.” But if we are doing our job well as philanthropists, our grants will carry on, having an impact long after the dollars are spent.

Trane® is announcing that its Series R® RTWD water-cooled chiller for commercial and industrial buildings is now available for customers in North America and the Middle East who are ready to transition to systems with lower global warming potential (GWP).