Getting my geek on

I’ve been to investing conferences in the past--a lot of alpha males chasing alpha for their greedy clients. I’ve also been to many spiritual retreats and self-improvement workshops, with a lot of visioning and hugging and experiential learning. I’ve learned a lot at both.

The Responsible Investor conference I’m attending is the sweet spot for me--people in the financial world with a conscience. People who want to push on the levers of power to move toward a sustainable financial system. It brings together my spiritual side and my pragmatism.

To give a flavour: We started with the manager of Japan’s largest pension fund telling how he uses his power to force fund managers to invest more ethically, particularly with regard to carbon. “What's the point of a pension benefit if they can’t play outside,” Hiro Mizuno very wisely said. When asked about Trump pulling out of the Paris Agreement, he said “They withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol before that. This time, Americans are more aware.”

I got to hear some of the rock stars of responsible investing speak. Edward Mason of the Church of England Commissioners, which files many excellent resolutions challenging large American companies on climate, modern slavery, and other ethical issues. The head of the Dutch pension fund--another leader in responsible investing. Rakhi Kumar, State Street, which is ahead of other large US asset managers on climate and board governance. And Oxford University’s Ben Caldecott, whose research I used extensively in my dissertation. I wanted to get his autograph.

Rather than drone on, here’s a picture of the Riverside Buildings, which contain County Hall:

And here’s a look across the river at Whitehall, where I was so turned around yesterday:

Speaking of turned around, after the conference, I was to go to Raj’s apartment in Shoreditch (Raj is CEO, Carolyn is chair). I took the circle line to Aldgate, as directed by Carolyn. When I got there, my phone said “mobile network unavailable", as is its wont. I asked at a nearby bus station where Commercial Street is. She sent me two blocks over and take a right. Once I took a right, the first address was 26. I needed to go to 132. I trotted along until I got to 160 and was in very unfamiliar territory. I realised I was on Commercial ROAD not Commercial Street. I went into a shop and was told to take a right on New Road, go a long way, then a left on Whitechapel and go a long way. I did that and found I had gone in a very large triangle, bringing me to Commercial Street. I took a right and trotted for another 10 minutes until I got to Raj’s, sweaty, exhausted, not in the best mood. Carolyn and Raj were both busy on their computers and pretty much ignored me. In 15 minutes, Raj left for a dinner date and Carolyn left for the opera. I walked very slowly to Old Street Station, sat on a curb and ate a burrito I got for half price. I thought about how London is not an easy place for older people because the pace is so fast. If you are not walking fast, you get jostled a lot, and getting on crowded tubes is tough. I got the underground home and, you guessed it, crawled into my little bed so very happy to be in my home away from home.
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