Harnessing the Power of Money

Have we lost sight of what the financial system is for? That’s the argument of Cambridge University Visiting Fellow David Pitt-Watson. The financial industry has ballooned in size, but focuses only on profit, and not on how it can serve society. The problem is deep, with students of business and economics trained only to ask ‘how?’ and never to ask ‘why?’, so how can finance be repurposed to solve the world’s greatest problems?

David Pitt-Watson

David is a leading thinker & practitioner in responsible investment. Born & brought up in Scotland, he was co-founder, and CEO of Hermes Focus Funds & Equity Ownership Service. These became the largest responsible investment group of any fund manager in the world.  Throughout his career he has been deeply involved in policy, particularly in the field of corporate governance and financial market regulation. He has led numerous initiatives to improve the performance of the financial system. For example he chaired the UN Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative in the run up to the Paris Climate Conference, (CoP21).

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