Speakers

Catherine Howarth, CEO, Share Action

Faith Ward, Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Brunel Pensions Partnership

To mark ten years since the founding of the High Pay Centre, we are holding a series of events covering the themes of our work. The discussions will look at how policy, practice and debate have changed over the past decade, and how they might do so in future.

The second event of our series will be a discussion on responsible investment. This topic was still an emerging and often poorly-understood concept when the High Pay Centre was founded, but over the past ten years has grown in importance and influence. The Covid-19 and climate crises have both accelerated this trend, as investors have come under greater pressure not to fund companies who cause harm to people and planet.

But while it seems that there is great enthusiasm in the investment industry for concepts such as Environmental, Social and governance (ESG) or impact investing, there is still considerable scepticism. Are investors increasingly now aligning their practices with the interests of the environment and wider society, or are the changes largely superficial ones intended to launder the industry's reputation and attract business from those who are responsibly minded?

Our speakers will reflect on their roles working in this space past 10 years, discussing how they think things have changed and what progress has been made. They will also share their views on what they think still needs to be done to ensure that the investment industry serves both the interests of their clients and the wider society, economy and environment in which they are situated