Let’s talk

Pension funds, climate change and the value of future pensions

Finews.asia interviewed me about my consulting work for pension funds. The interview contains a few provocative statements. The quote from the title comes from the following context:

Our goal has to be to eliminate fossil fuels, but an exit from one day to the next simply isn't possible. The global economy would collapse without this source of energy. That's why it's important to keep financing it, but those sources of funding need to be transparent and with environmental requirements. For me, it gets hypocritical when companies attempt to conceal transactions like these.

The sustainability expert says UBS and others don’t need to be overly worried about working with coal and oil?

No, but I'd rather that a western bank like UBS conducts this business, and does so in a transparent way. It's the age-old conundrum of engagement vs divestment: a well-known foundation as a shareholder in a big oil company can do more for sustainability than an opaque Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund.

You can find the entire interview here.

Dorothea Baur - ESG and Sustainable Finance

ESG

Topics ESG & Sustainable Finance Sustainable investments are hotly debated everywhere. But words are not enough. Customers, investors and regulators want to see action. The

Read More »
Robin Hood (the Sherwood Forest version) would be disappointed by his Silicon Valley-Wallstreet namesake. (Photo by Steve Harvey on Unsplash)

Robinhood: democratized finance on shaky ground

More than 900 years after the heroic figure Robin Hood set out to steal from the rich and give to the poor, two American entrepreneurs borrowed his name to establish a fintech company that claims to “democratize finance for all”. But the new Robinhood’s claim of ‘democracy’ is on shaky ground. Just as the company can make financial markets accessible to everyone, it can also deny access within a split second. This is what happened when they shut down Gamestop trading on January 28, 2021. Thousands of investors were presented with a fait accompli.

Read More »

Subscribe to my newsletter