Tell us about your role as Head of Impact Investing at EQ Investors.
Having worked with EQ Investors for over a decade, my role has evolved over the years but has remained centred around two key fields investments and education. I am co-managing alongside Tertius Bonnin our Positive Impact, Sustainable World and Future Leaders Portfolios which offers three different ways for clients to align their investments with their values. It is not only about building portfolios with ambitious sustainability goals but also keep challenging the status quo,
I also spend time with financial advisers, fund managers and other key financial stakeholders to share best practices we have learnt over the years thanks to the fantastic community around us.
What attracted you to EQ, and what keeps you motivated to stay?
When I initially joined EQ Investors, I was attracted by the opportunity to learn more about sustainability and how to do good while investing. I am so grateful to have been at the very beginning of our journey as a firm to pioneer sustainable and impact investing for UK retail investors.
Despite an improvement in the past decade, there remains a significant gap between the capital invested towards a sustainable transition and what’s actually needed. I am absolutely convinced that private capital has an essential role to play in financing this transition, while also generating the investment returns to help private clients meet their financial goals. That’s a key motivation for me to make sustainable investing a key part of any financial planning firm’s CIP.
How do you like to spend your time when you’re not at work?
Being dad of three lovely girls can be quite full on, but I also try to keep myself active through swimming and hiking.
Indeed, I love hiking with the family and discovering new National Parks across the UK but also France where I grew up. It is a fantastic opportunity to pass on the love of nature to the new generation, disconnect from the city life and discover new horizons, new cultures, and new people.
What’s a unique skill or perspective you bring to the team?
Having managed sustainable portfolios for nearly fifteen years, I have seen a few cycles, from sustainability ignorance to enthusiasm, from diversified to concentrated returns, from low and stable to high and volatile inflation environment, from thematic to value outperforming. Whilst history usually does not repeat, it often rhymes and I am happy to be an ambassador within the team of the concept of resilience, to ensure our sustainable portfolios can generate consistent returns year on year for our financial advisers’ clients.
What’s one thing you love about our company culture?
It might sound cliché, but I love the laser focus on clients’ outcomes. Sustainability is a very complex topic and combining it with financial goals can make it a difficult recipe. For us, while having a modern kitchen, the best kitchenware, a visionary chef, experienced cooks and support staff is key to our approach, clients feedback is at the heart of our daily actions. From the design of the sustainable objectives to the sustainable reporting, from the portfolio construction to the strategy selection, clients feedback has been paramount to develop our range of sustainable portfolios from lighter to darker green, keep it relevant and best in class over the years and through the cycles.
How would your teammates describe you in three words?
Passionate, dedicated & funny. Maybe the last one is more a wish than a reality! Or just jokes lost in translation…
If you could describe our team as a movie or a book, what would it be and why?
Doughnut Economics. It is a classic book from Kate Raworth published over a decade ago and offering a vision of what it means for humanity to thrive in the 21st century. It echoes our approach to investing, making it purposeful for the team and our clients but also relevant today and tomorrow, in a fast-changing environment, facing an increasing number of sustainability challenges.
