In October 2021, the Impact Investing Institute and Karen Shackleton, Founder of Pensions for Purpose, hosted a discussion with Debbie Fielder, Deputy Head of the Clwyd Pension Fund. We discussed the opportunities and challenges of place-based impact investing, as well as hearing about the approach that Debbie and the team at Clwyd have taken as leaders in this field.
You can read the full summary of the discussion via the link below, but our key takeaways are:
- Any pension fund, regardless of size, can make investments that make a real difference locally.
- Asset owners need to create market demand for impact and place-based funds by starting to hold their advisors to account for exploring and undertaking due diligence on these options.
- It’s important to be clear about impact priorities, and remember that impact isn’t always local, and local doesn’t always mean impact.
- Collaboration is key – with other investors and with potential investee companies or projects.
- This collaboration should extend to co-creation of investment governance structures.
- LGPS Pools offer a fantastic opportunity for local impact but a diversified return – they could be at the forefront of innovation on place-based investing given the increased geographic area enables broader diversification and therefore risk mitigation.