What is impact investing?
Impact investing means investing in companies that aim to deliver meaningful societal outcomes by addressing the world’s major societal and environmental challenges, while at the same time producing a financial return.
Impacting investing under the microscope
Watch our three-part video series on impact investing. The series will cover impact investing in practice, genomics and social inclusion, why hydrogen is now at the forefront of the decarbonisation debate, and much more.
Ep.1: Impact investing 101
In this first episode, we will explore the crucial role impact investing can play in tackling the world’s biggest social & environmental challenges, M&G’s impact investing framework, the ‘Theory of Change’ and impact investing in public markets.
Hear from:
Susanne Grabinger
John William Olsen
Ben Constable Maxwell
Ep. 2: Genomics and social inclusion
This second episode will provide a high-level introduction to the human genome, the role of genetics in rare diseases and cancer and a closer look at today’s technological capabilities.
Hear from:
Susanne Grabinger
Jasveet Brar
Thembeka Stemela Dagbo
Ep.3: Making sense of the hydrogen hype
In this final video, we aim to separate the hydrogen hype from reality, by discussing: why hydrogen is now at the forefront of the decarbonisation debate and examples of companies which are both impactful and capable of delivering a sustainably high return on capital.
Hear from:
Susanne Grabinger
Michael Rae
Meet the team
- John William 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.
- John William Olsen has been the manager of the Positive Impact strategy since launch in November 2018.
- Prior to joining M&G, he worked for Danske Capital, where from 2002 he had managed non-domestic equity portfolios, including the Global Stock Picking, Global Select and European Select strategies.
- He joined Danske Capital in 1998 as a fund manager on the domestic Danish equities team, and in 2000 also became a global sector analyst focusing on technology and telecommunications stocks.
- John William gained a BA in business economics and then an MSc in finance and accounting from Copenhagen Business School.
- Ben 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.
- Ben is the Impact lead on the M&G Positive Impact and Climate Solutions Funds.
- Ben has been central to the development of ESG integration within M&G’s investment processes and has supported the growth of Sustainable and Impact solutions for clients across asset classes
- Ben plays an active industry role as a member of sustainable and impact investment initiatives including the Investment Association’s SRI committee and the GIIN’s Listed Equities impact working group.
- Previous to M&G, Ben spent four years with the Equities team at Invesco Perpetual. Ben has an Honours Degree in Classics from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and holds the Certificate in Impact Measurement from the Said Business School at Oxford University.
- Thembeka Stemela Dagbo is a South African national who joined M&G in July 2018 as an investment analyst for M&G Positive Impact Fund.
- Thembeka manages the M&G (Lux) Diversity & Inclusion Fund and the Diversity & Inclusion Fineco Asset Management Fund.
- She was appointed Deputy Fund Manager of M&G (Lux) Positive Impact Fund in June 2019.
- She was previously a Vice President (VP) in the Equity Research Department at Credit Suisse International, where she joined as part of the Graduate Programme in 2012. She served as a primary analyst for the UK and Nordic non-life insurers.
- Thembeka has a Bachelor of Business Science Honours Degree from the University of Cape Town (UCT), specialising in Economics. She also holds the Certificate in Impact Measurement from the Said Business School at Oxford University.
- Jasveet Brar became manager of the M&G 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 Fund in October 2022.
- Jasveet 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 is a CFA charterholder and started his career with M&G as part of the graduate scheme in September 2011. Jasveet graduated from University College London with a first class honours BSc in Mathematics.
- Michael was appointed fund manager of the M&G 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.
- He 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.
- Prior to Redburn, Michael spent seven years in equity research at Goldman Sachs covering the energy and chemicals sectors.
- He began his career by completing the graduate programme at Wood Mackenzie, an energy consultancy, covering Alaska and Canada.
- Michael has a first class degree in Mathematics from the University of Edinburgh
- Susanne 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 funds. 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.
- Prior to joining M&G, Susanne worked at JPMorgan Asset Management as a client portfolio manager, focusing on institutional equity accounts and balanced mutual funds.
- She holds a Master’s degree in business administration from the University of Bamberg, Germany, and is a CFA charterholder. Susanne is fluent in German and English and is also proficient in French and Spanish. She also holds the CFA ESG Investing certificate.
Discover our strategies related to impact investing
The SDG Reckoning Report - Can the world catch up?
The next few years will be absolutely pivotal to closing the annual SDG financing gap – estimated to be around US$2.5 trillion. The annual "M&G SDG plc Reckoning report", issued by our parent company M&G plc since 2020, recalled that the scale of financial flows addressing the SDGs is insufficient. It is evident that both the public and private sector must augment action and direct capital towards addressing global problems such as food insecurity, health inequalities, discrimination, pollution, global warming and habitat loss.
Discover more in the M&G plc SDG Reckoning report
Please note, while we support the UN SDGs, we are not associated with the UN and our funds are not endorsed by them.
The value of the fund's assets will go down as well as up. This will cause the value of your investment to fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you originally invested.