Harnessing the power of money

The finance industry is critical to our future. Indeed it is almost impossible to imagine solving the world’s greatest problems, from economic development to climate change, without an effective financial system. Yet the industry, which should be taking our money, and setting it to proper purpose, is seen to be greedy, and is widely despised. This talk explains how finance is able to profit itself without serving society, and how we, its customers, might get it to do its job properly.

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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