Our impact areas
Environmental impact areas
Environmental solutions
Climate action
Circular economy
Spotlight
Social impact areas
Social inclusion
Better work and education
Better health, saving lives
Our Impact areas refer only to our public assets and listed strategies.
Spotlight: Circular economy
We have a problem
Globally, it is estimated that on average 30% of food is lost or wasted1.
The below chart highlights the average annual food waste generated per person in different regions, although notably there is insufficient data for the food service and retail categories in middle-income countries, and across all categories in low-income countries.
What we can do?
Biodiversity is essential to the ongoing survival of life on this planet. We need healthy ecosystems to provide us with air, food, water and more. Our Nature & Biodiversity insights series covers a range of topics that are central to solving the nature and biodiversity crisis, while highlighting the opportunities for investors to make positive contributions.
Part 1: The importance of sustainable food systems
In this article Nishita Karad explores the importance of developing a sustainable food system, and the opportunities for investors to make a positive impact in this area.
Part 2: Water and sanitation solutions
In this article, Adam Pinfold, Michael Rae and Ben Constable-Maxwell consider the risks of our current unsustainable water use, alongside some of the potential solutions.
Upcoming in the Nature & Biodiversity insight series:
- Part 3: Forestry and agriculture
Are we on track?
Circularity continues to decline in 2023 according to our internal SDG scorecard.
SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production
Metric: Circularity gap (ie, % of the global economy assessed as being circular)
The pandemic shutdown played a role with its health-related pressure for single use, as did the lack of policy action to ensure sufficient circular infrastructure. Companies have set ambitious targets to use recycled materials, increasingly supported by regulation, but the reality as evidenced by ocean plastic waste and growing global landfills is starkly different.
Discover more in our SDG Reckoning report
While we support the UN SDGs, we are not associated with the UN and our funds are not endorsed by them.
Source: M&G SDG Reckoning report 2023
1United Nations Environment Programme, ‘Driving finance for Sustainable Food Systems’, (unep.org), 2023.
Impact investing at M&G Investments
Public assets impact investing
With impact investing we invest in companies that aim to deliver meaningful social outcomes by addressing the world's major social and environmental challenges, while at the same time looking to produce a financial return.
Private assets impact investing
Discover our impact investing capabilities focusing on private assets.
Impact and sustainable funds
At M&G Investments we offer a broad range of impact and sustainable investment funds.
SDG Reckoning report: Can the world catch up?
Our internal SDG scorecard report assesses global year-on-year progress, on a scale of 1 to 10, for each of the UN’s 17 SDGs.
At M&G, we believe impact investing has a crucial role to play in tackling the world’s biggest social and environmental challenges. By deciding to redirect capital towards the solutions, we can invest in companies that create measurable, positive change in the world, while at the same time producing a financial return.
Impacting investing under the microscope
Meet our impact investing experts*
John William Olsen
Head of Impact Equities
Joined M&G in April 2014, and was appointed manager of the Global Sustain Paris Aligned and Pan European Sustain Paris Aligned strategies in July 2014. He has been the manager of the Positive Impact strategy since launch in November 2018.
Ben Constable-Maxwell
Head Impact Strategist / Equity Impact Lead
Joined M&G Investments in 2003 and is now Head of Impact Investing, leading the firm’s strategy on impact investing as well as covering sustainability issues such as climate change and circular economy. He is the Impact lead on the M&G Positive Impact and Climate Solutions Funds.
Thembeka Stemela
Fund Manager
She is a South African national who joined M&G in July 2018 as an investment analyst for the Positive Impact strategy. She now manages the Diversity & Inclusion strategy and is Deputy Fund Manager of the Positive Impact strategy.
Jasveet Brar
Fund Manager
Joined the M&G Equity team in December 2012 as a dedicated investment analyst with the Sustain franchise, leading on environmental, social and governance (ESG) analysis and company engagement. He became manager of the Better Health Solutions strategy in June 2021 having been part of the M&G Positive Impact team since its establishment in 2018. He was also appointed fund manager of the Taishin Future Health strategy in October 2022.
Michael Rae
Fund Manager
Joined M&G’s central equity analyst team as a Global Energy and Chemicals analyst in September 2019 from Redburn, where he was a Partner and Head of the Energy Team, with a focus on traditional and alternative energy companies. He was appointed fund manager of the Climate Solutions strategy in February 2023. He has been working as a senior analyst on the Sustain and Impact Equity Team with a focus on climate, circular economy and environmental stocks since 2022.
Susanne Grabinger
Investment Director
She is the Investment Director for Sustainable and Impact Equities at M&G. She joined M&G back in 2010 as investment specialist providing support for M&G’s Value and Income strategies. Before moving focusing on the sustainable & impact equities team, she was dedicated to the Multi Asset and Global Convertibles teams, most recently with a focus on the M&G Sustainable Multi Asset Strategies.
Randeep Somel
Co-Deputy Fund Manager
He joined M&G in 2005. At different stages he was Fund Manager or Deputy Manager of the Global Themes, Managed Growth, Global Recovery, and Climate Solutions Impact strategies. After spending 1 year at S&P 500 listed corporate Iron Mountain, as Global Head of Sustainability and Communications, he has decided to re-join M&G’s Sustain & Impact team as deputy fund manager for the Global and European Sustain Paris Aligned strategies in October 2023.
Lucy Hancock
Co-deputy Fund Manager
She joined the Sustain & Impact team in March 2022, as an experienced analyst with a focus on energy transition decarbonisation technologies and sustainable materials. Prior to joining M&G, she was an analyst on the European Chemicals Team at Sanford C. Bernstein for 3 years. Prior to this, she has spent 15 years in various roles in strategy consulting, private equity, energy, and soft commodity trading.
*These are the experts from our Impact Equities team only.
Selected sustainability institutions and initiatives
