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Gender balance in the workplace

Despite progress on female representation in senior financial roles, the industry is nowhere near parity. We explore how finance can create a level playing field for all genders to thrive.

We were happy to see a new application of our adopted principle: “The greenest building is the one not built”. Not so long ago we read that the approval for demolishing and rebuilding the M&S store on Oxford Street, London had been refused by the secretary of State, Michael Gove. The main argument was that it: “fails to support the transition to a low carbon future and would overall fail to encourage the reuse of existing resources, including the conversion of existing buildings”. Ironically, we also read about a just-completed residential development: Mast Quay Phase II, which is to be demolished as ordered by the local council, although in this case it is the developer that aims to keep the building intact (surely for economic reasons). The tables have turned. Nonetheless, in helping to settle this latest issue, we would like to quote the senior director at Expedition Engineering: “did anyone stop for a second to consider the waste of embodied energy”.

I recently visited a whisky distillery in the north of Scotland. Clearly, this was for pleasure, not business, as making potent alcoholic beverages isn’t going to feature in a sustainable fund. However, I must confess to enjoying good single malt and while on the distillery tour, I got to thinking about the sustainability challenges the industry faces.

Carbon capture and storage has made headlines this summer, with two new UK schemes receiving government backing and more identified over the next decade. Carbon capture is an industry which has had many false starts. Does it really have a part to play in our race to net zero?

Things are not always as they appear. Often a company’s role in creating a sustainable future is not clear at first glance, but a closer look shows its products are a key enabler of the transition.

Climate change and the transition to net zero is an increasingly important theme for investors. Significant action is required to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout the world. We expect the scrutiny by regulators and underlying pension scheme members of climate-related exposures to only increase. This raises the question how climate change can be incorporated within portfolios, including fixed income portfolios.

The annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference has become one of the preeminent healthcare investment gatherings in the industry. It brings together members of the investment community with industry leaders from hundreds of companies, ranging from emerging fast-growth companies and innovative technology creators, to large and established for-profit and not-for-profit entities.

Emerging markets (EM) have been out of favour for some time. This asset class, which encompasses a diverse range of countries and economies, has suffered amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty, a strong dollar and the economic disruption from China’s now abandoned ‘zero-Covid’ policy.