What does society owe each of us and what do we owe in return? The answer is our social contract and we are living in a time when many feel it is not working.

In session 3, associate fund manager Victoria Maclean will show how periods of instability can result in the reordering of societies and priorities. In recent years the instability has been dramatic. Covid had a major impact on health systems and even the way we interact with each other. The conflict in Ukraine is reinforcing the need to decrease reliance on fossil fuels, it’s further disrupting supply chain and it’s forcing many countries to open up to refugees. Meanwhile, the IPCC has now confirmed that we are unlikely to limit global warming to the 1.5 degree Paris target and adaptation is now critical.

However, there are solutions, and investors can benefit from finding companies with strong competitive advantages in niches which address these challenges. Often they aren’t in the obvious places. More broadly, we think impact investing has a role to play in the new social contract. The finance industry needs to adapt, and impact investors are leading that change, as well as driving change at the companies in which they invest.