100% for impact

How can you invest to support your mission and still pay the bills?

Date:
Monday 15 November
Time:
3pm – 4pm

Impact investing has gained traction in recent years as more organisations look at the environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact of their investment strategy and seek to align their investments with their core mission in a sustainable and risk-controlled manner.

This session looked at some of the opportunities and questions surrounding impact investment from a legal, practical and fiduciary perspective.

Watch the session recording

Background and resources

For some background to the session and the resources mentioned, please see below:

You can also listen to the VocTech podcast episode “How is impact investment changing and what does it mean for education?”

Our panellists

Paul Blyth (Chair)

ESG and Impact Investor

Paul’s day job is to work with institutions and individuals helping them to invest their capital for both financial return and for positive impact. Entering his 14th year in this nascent field, Paul is often described as one of Impact Investment’s pioneers on account of his work with eBay/PayPal, European pension funds, Snowball Investment Management, and Friends Provident Foundation’s ground-breaking ESG Olympics to name a few.

In his spare time, Paul is a board member for the Church Investors Group, Chair of the Financial Inclusion Forum UK, and sits on the Investment Committee of the Friends Provident Foundation.

Luke Fletcher

Partner, Bates Wells

Luke is a partner at the law firm Bates Wells and specialises in charity law and impact investment. As part of his practice, Luke regularly advises foundations and other charities on investment governance, impact investing and incubating and supporting social ventures. Luke also advises social entrepreneurs, purpose-driven businesses and others working in the wider impact economy.

Paolo Fresia

Investment Director, 100% Sustainability; and Vice-Chair, Ufi VocTech Trust

Paolo is an impact investor with a focus on 1) Mitigating climate change; 2) Promoting sustainable production and consumption, and 3) Reducing gender and LGBTQI+ inequalities. He is part of the 100% Network, treasurer and board member of Toniic, and a founding donor to the Centre for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth in Zurich. Paolo is also Vice-Chair of the Ufi VocTech Trust.

Prior to impact investing, Paolo worked as a bond trader for Goldman Sachs, as CFO for Doctors Without Borders in Haiti, and as a business and human rights consultant for Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) in Hong Kong. He holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, an M.Phil in Development from Cambridge, and a B.A. in Philosophy and Economics from University College London.

Rebecca Garrod-Waters

CEO, Ufi VocTech Trust

Rebecca leads the Ufi VocTech Trust to deliver their vision of a world where vocational skills are celebrated and valued by all and where development of those skills is made possible by the best technology solutions. Rebecca was part of the team responsible for delivering a holistic framework across all Ufi’s funding instruments – grants, venture investment and investment capital – to support vocational educational technology and have a positive impact.

Danyal Sattar

Chief Executive Officer, The Big Issue Invest

Danyal Sattar is Chief Executive Officer of The Big Issue Invest. He brings with him a wealth of experience in providing finance and support to social enterprises and charities seeking to eradicate poverty while creating opportunities for people across the UK.

Prior to his role at The Big Issue Invest, Danyal served as Head of Social Investment with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, where he was responsible for managing the foundation’s social investment fund with a focus on achieving solutions to poverty and inequality in the UK and developed new strategic programmes such as the Poverty Premium Fund “Fair by Design.” Previous roles were at Big Society Capital and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. This followed earlier work with Brussels based network INIASE, and work at UKSIF, Aston Reinvestment Trust, and New Economics Foundation.

He holds a BA, MSc, MA and IMC. He is a non-executive director at Finance Earth and a trustee of the London School of Tai Chi Chuan.

Danielle Walker Palmour

Director, Friends Provident Foundation

Danielle was the founding Director of Friends Provident Foundation. Under her leadership, the Foundation has an international reputation for innovative funding and investment practice and is at the forefront of rethinking the role of philanthropic resources in the UK.

Danielle has occupied senior policy and research roles throughout the non-governmental sector such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Law Society of England and Wales. She has served as in an advisory role as a member of the Treasury’s Financial Inclusion Taskforce, the Civil Society Advisory Body of the Cabinet Office and the Financial Services Authority Financial Capability Steering Group.