Making a positive impact through your investments

Choosing investments that have a positive impact on the environment and society as well as making a financial return is an increasingly popular topic. To bring it to life, Louie French, the Lead Portfolio Manager on the Tilney Sustainable Portfolios, is joined by two guests:

• Jaz Bains, Group Risk and Investment Director of Renewable Energy Systems and co-manager of the Renewables Infrastructure Group (known as TRIG). This invests in operational renewable assets generating clean energy in Europe.
• Jonathan Maxwell, CEO of Sustainable Development Capital and manager of the SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust. Often referred to as SEEIT, this trust focuses on energy projects delivering cheaper, cleaner and more reliable services such as heat, light and power directly to consumers.

Video highlights:

• Jonathan discusses the energy waste from buildings and his fund’s investment in projects to replace inefficient equipment and reduce the carbon intensity of energy production. He also talks about an exciting innovation to recycle flue gases from steel mills to provide power and steam.
• Jaz explains how his fund’s investments in onshore and offshore wind and solar PV have offset about 1.2 million tonnes of carbon this year, providing more than a million homes with clean energy.
• They discuss social impacts alongside energy impacts, with Jonathan highlighting the positive impact of transport electrification on air pollution in cities and how a project at St Barts Hospital in London generated cash savings that could be reinvested into cancer care and nurses.
• Jaz highlights the challenges of supply chain governance and talks about how his team are tackling it and having their say in forcing change in the market.
• "I think the only way is up," Jaz says in response to Louie’s question about the outlook. The need for renewable energy to get to net zero is huge, a lot of investment is required and the opportunities are huge.
• Jonathan zeros in on how much energy is wasted, the volatility of the energy system and the impact it has on society. He talks about the importance of decentralisation and efficiency in cutting costs, cutting carbon and improving energy security and reliability.

How Tilney can help

Tilney offers a range of investment and financial planning services. If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you, we offer a free, initial consultation with one of our experts. There is no obligation to take any of our services. You can book online or call us on 020 7189 2400.