Rachel Halpern: JANA’s new Head of Sustainability, from ESG to real-world impact

For the full podcast and transcript: #84 Rachel Halpern: Jana’s new Head of Sustainability, from ESG to real-world impact – John Treadgold

Rachel Halpern is the newly installed head of sustainability at asset consulting firm JANA.

Asset consultants like JANA have an important role for big investors like super funds and insurance companies. They analyse and recommend which investment managers would be a good fit for their portfolios.

And now, with the addition of a head of sustainability, it becomes very clear that ESG and Impact are essential considerations for institutional investors.

On this episode

We explored the key factors that an analyst like JANA looks for when they’re assessing an investment manager in terms of their sustainability credentials.

It’s an assessment of ESG factors, and whether they measure impact. It’s about governance and organisational behavior. And more than ever, there’s a focus on climate targets and whether the firm is progressing towards net zero by 2050.

While ESG integration has gone mainstream, there’s a growing emphasis on the real impact an investment is having on the world, and we discussed the way investment managers can measure and report their real world outcomes.

My key takeaway this week

Finance is about more than just the numbers.

As Rachel explains, “JANA’s business is built on strong relationships. And fundamental to that are face to face meetings”.

The firm does far more than analysis financial statements, they aim to travel to an investor’s offices to speak face-to-face. To ‘feel’ the reaction they receive to questions, as much as hear it.

And they want to see how the rest of the team works, moves and reacts. They’re all data points that combine to help their assessment of the investor.