Why enlightened investors need to escape ESG’s extractive logic
In 2019, McDonald’s beef-heavy supply chain generated 54 million tonnes of emissions. This is more greenhouse gas emitted by either Portugal or Hungary, and a 7% overall increase in just 4 years. In 2021, MSCI upgraded its ESG score: dropping carbon emissions from its ESG calculation (climate deemed neither a ‘risk’ nor an ‘opportunity’ to […]
Gender empowerment in emerging markets: look beyond the board
Earlier in March, International Women’s Day championed the progress made towards greater gender equality over the last century. Whilst there is much to celebrate, and we laud the efforts made, there is clearly much still to do. One of the most concerning of the post-pandemic scars is the ‘shecession’: women’s jobs are now 1.8 times […]
What impact will Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have on emerging markets?
Like everyone else, we are appalled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. After a difficult, and indeed ongoing, battle against a global pandemic, this was a tragic way to welcome what we hoped would have been a year of healing for the world. Arisaig’s role, as an investor, is to understand what the implications of the […]
The case for impact investing in emerging market public equities
Arisaig Partners’ Investment Philosophy is founded on the belief that Purposeful Growth – taking a multi-stakeholder view of the world – generates superior long-term investment returns in the emerging markets. We therefore invest in concentrated portfolios of enlightened businesses which seek to benefit not just private shareholders, but for a wider segment of society. […]
Codifying purpose into Arisaig: Why we decided to become B Corp
On 1st March 2022, Arisaig Partners celebrates its first anniversary as a Certified B Corporation. What does this mean? We became a member of a small group of companies (<4,000) and an even smaller group of investment managers that seek to balance profit with purpose. Becoming a Certified B Corporation® is a legally-binding* commitment to consider the interests of […]
China, an opportunity too big to ignore
Of all the wider implications of the coronavirus pandemic, geopolitically it appears to have magnified perceptions of distance and difference. The near cessation of travel is an obvious factor, but the differing responses to the pandemic, often influenced by differing cultures and political systems, against a backdrop of increasingly nationalistic and sometimes populist tendencies, have […]
The tale of two houses: beyond ESG to Purposeful Growth
Picture two houses, braced for a coming storm. The first, a dizzyingly complex construction, sprawls across many fragile points of distribution. Its slender beams are exposed, swaying dangerously in the currents. Look closer: some are rotting; rain is trickling through the ceiling, corroding the infrastructure. Its residents, with growing unease, rush to construct a reinforcing layer […]
Implementing Net Zero in emerging market public equities
Purpose – why is this important to us? Arisaig Partners’ Investment Philosophy is founded on the belief that Purposeful Growth – taking a multi-stakeholder view of the world – generates superior long-term investment returns in the emerging markets. Climate change and its most disruptive outcomes poses an existential threat to humanity itself, and therefore to all […]
