The Sustainable Investment Debate

There are 3 other debates happening in September on Tourism (3rd September), Retail (10th September) and Energy (16th September). On the 30th September we will be holding our main TED-style all day conference.

"The purpose of investment is maximising financial return and nothing else"

An Oxford-style debate.

This event is proudly supported by:

Arguments for

The view is commonplace in investment and finance. Many industry professionals are of the opinion that there are no moral or ethical considerations when investing, and that investment is not a charity, so should not be treated as such
Read more.

Arguments against

A growing band of investors and financial professionals disagree wholeheartedly with this mantra. It is now not simply accepted that money should be somehow disconnected from the environment or society. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that factoring in sustainability issues actually improves returns
Read more.

Confirmed speakers:

Speaker for the motion

Russ Mould
Investment Research Director of AJ Bell and former editor of Shares magazine

Having worked as both a fund manager and an equity analyst for many years, Russ joined Shares magazine in November 2005 as Technology Correspondent, eventually becoming Editor of the magazine in July 2008. He was appointed as AJ Bell’s Investment Research Director in summer 2013 following AJ Bell's acquisition of Shares' parent company, MSM Media.

Speaker for the motion

To be confirmed very shortly

Speaker against the motion

Catherine Howarth
Chief Executive of ShareAction

Catherine joined ShareAction in July 2008, having previously been the founder and lead organiser of West London Citizens. Earlier in her career she was Senior Researcher at the New Policy Institute.

Catherine is a board member of Green Alliance. She was a Member Nominated Trustee of The Pensions Trust (the multi-employer pension scheme for the UK's not-for-profit sector) for five years until Spring 2013. She served for four years on The Pensions Trust's Investment Committee.

Catherine holds a First Class BA in Modern History from Oxford University and an MSc in Industrial Relations from the London School of Economics.

In June 2011 Catherine was named a 'Rising Star of Corporate Governance' by Yale University's, Millstein Center. In 2013, Pensions Insight featured her as one of the 50 most influential people in pensions and in May 2011 Investment and Pensions Europe called her one of the 'top ten women in pensions'. Catherine was recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2014.

Speaker against the motion

John Ditchfield
Director and Adviser at Barchester Green

John Ditchfield is one of the UKs leading advisers on environmental investment funds. He advises a number of large charitable trusts and is frequently quoted in print, and on radio and television. He is also Chair of the Ethical Investment Association (EIA)and a board member of UKSIF.

John graduated from Liverpool University in 1995 with a B.A. Hons degree in Philosophy and Politics. For the next three years he worked for Oxfam campaigns in the development and promotion of the Basic Rights Campaign.

After leaving Oxfam in 1998 John spent the next six years as a Project Manager for the Single Regeneration Budget and European Social Fund developing community based micro-credit schemes in Leeds, Birmingham and London. He trained as an Independent Financial Adviser during 2000 with Ethical Money Ltd before working in the promotion of film tax planning partnerships and enterprise investment schemes (EIS).

In 2003 John joined Barchester Green Investment, the UKs longest established investment specialist IFA, to support the growing number of clients seeking specialist financial planning advice on ethical and environmental investments in the London area.

Now a Director of Barchester Green Investment, John continues to work with clients both nationally and internationally; identifying financial planning strategies which serve clients financial needs without compromising their values.

John’s hobbies include triathlon and distance running. His personal best for London’s Olympic Triathlon is 2 hours 29 minutes.

Moderator

Simon Howard
Chief Executive of UKSIF

Simon Howard joined UKSIF as Chief Executive in May 2013. Simon is a former Chief Investment Officer who has over twenty years of investment management experience.

During a City career that started in 1990, he has been Group Chief Investment Officer at Liverpool Victoria, Head of Investments at Friends Provident and Managing Director at 3i Asset Management. Prior to joining UKSIF, Simon was Head of Sustainable Financial Markets at the charity Forum for the Future.

Other speakers to be confirmed very shortly

Watch the video of a previous event we ran here: Sustainable Investment Bootcamp