Sunday Brunch: audit - the risk hiding in plain sight
Audits matter. Much of the time investors don't get the data that underpins a company strategy. It's confidential. And so we rely on the auditor to check it. And this should include sustainability strategy. But, often it doesn't. That needs to change.
Sunday Brunch: clean electricity is possible, but politically tough
A clean, low carbon electricity grid is possible. And while the task of adding all of the renewables, batteries etc is challenging, the big barrier is political will and regulatory frameworks. Lets not pretend the route will be easy.
Sunday Brunch: Moving from ESG to competitive advantage
If we want companies to become more sustainable, we need to focus on the financial impacts of the transition. And we need to make the imperative for change clear - not just from society, but from governments and regulators.
Sunday Brunch: Might taking Anglo American private be good for sustainability?
Would taking a mining company private help with sustainability? Or could we achieve the same outcome with a material minority holding?
Sunday Brunch: Yes, its true, accounting really does matters
Accounting is the language of business - most investors would be lost without accounting numbers. And generally we need better sustainability related disclosures - a mining case study.
Change can happen faster than we think
Assuming business as usual is often the easy option. But often change happens faster than we expect. And this can expose the company to material risks.
Sunday Brunch: Why investors need companies to have a vision
Companies make strategies, investors just critique them. And to do this well, we need companies to have a clearly set out vision for how their industry will look in the future, and how they will fit in it.
Sunday Brunch: how to talk to asset managers ...
Business 101 - first understand how the people you want to influence actually think. This also applies to those who want to influence companies and asset managers. Start with how they think and tailor your message to focus on what they see as important.
Sunday Brunch: the world is not linear ....
Yes, we need to prepare for the future, but in a resilient way. One that doesn't lock us into 'the future will look like the past'. And that includes mining for critical minerals.
Sunday Brunch: Doing nothing can also create risk
Doing nothing in the face of upcoming risks can be massively value destroying for companies, leading to both shareholders and lenders losing out.
Financial risks from climate change
Rising sea levels are not just a threat to people. They also could create material financial risks, from what we call asset impairment. And given the long asset lives of most infrastructure, the risk is getting closer than you might think.
Stopping cows from burping.
Could gene editing could solve the cow methane problem? Although innovation sometimes over promises and under delivers, there are times when it's necessary. When the alternatives are unlikely to get delivered at the scale we need. And cow based methane looks like just such a case.
