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SRI360 | Sustainable & Responsible Investing, Impact Investing, ESG, Socially Responsible Investing
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Why Impact Must Become Finance’s Third Axis: Rethinking Returns, Risk, and Responsibility
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Richard Brandweiner, Chair of Impact Investing Australia and a longtime institutional investor, joins the show to discuss the realities of impact investing at scale. He reflects on universal ownership, system-level risks, blended finance, and what it truly takes to align capital with real-world outcomes and fiduciary expectations.
Richard shares lessons from leadership roles at Perpetual, Aware Super, LeapFrog, Pendal, and Regnan, and why hope isn’t a strategy when designing investment frameworks meant to deliver measurable impact.
A candid conversation for investors, asset owners, and practitioners who want an honest look at where sustainable finance is working, and where it isn’t.
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- Intro (00:00)
- Parents’ WWII survival shaped Richard’s moral compass (03:54)
- Studied economics at the University of New South Wales (08:06)
- Trading shares through the 1987 market crash in high school (10:44)
- Career in Perpetual Investments and creating the first sustainable fund (13:15)
- Becoming CIO at First State Super in 2013 (17:34)
- Affordable housing fund idea sparked impact focus (19:34)
- Structural issues in asset owner systems (33:29)
- Transition from CIO to Leapfrog impact role (38:35)
- Challenges launching institutional-grade impact fund (42:04)
- Becoming BT CEO and integrating Regnan’s early ESG legacy (43:54)
- At Regnan, the impact case is the investment case (48:29)
- Regnan’s measurement approach and SDG taxonomy (54:18)
- Impact Investing Australia - mission and focus (58:37)
- Making impact the third axis in finance (01:04:55)
- Ethical vs ESG vs impact investing (01:09:22)
- How Australian Ethical outperforms with values-led investing (01:12:16)
- Governance for Aboriginal community investment and autonomy (01:14:00)
- Structural barriers to scaling impact investing globally (01:21:38)
- Communication and accounting gaps in environmental costs (01:32:08)
- Rapid-fire questions (01:35:37)
- Contact info (01:47:14)
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Additional Resources:
Chapters
1. Intro (00:00:00)
2. Parents’ WWII survival shaped Richard’s moral compass (00:03:54)
3. Studied economics at the University of New South Wales (00:08:06)
4. Trading shares through the 1987 market crash in high school (00:10:44)
5. Career in Perpetual Investments and creating the first sustainable fund (00:13:15)
6. Becoming CIO at First State Super in 2013 (00:17:34)
7. Affordable housing fund idea sparked impact focus (00:19:34)
8. Structural issues in asset owner systems (00:33:29)
9. Transition from CIO to Leapfrog impact role (00:38:35)
10. Challenges launching institutional-grade impact fund (00:42:04)
11. Becoming BT CEO and integrating Regnan’s early ESG legacy (00:43:54)
12. At Regnan, the impact case is the investment case (00:48:29)
13. Regnan’s measurement approach and SDG taxonomy (00:54:18)
14. Impact Investing Australia - mission and focus (00:58:37)
15. Making impact the third axis in finance (01:04:55)
16. Ethical vs ESG vs impact investing (01:09:22)
17. How Australian Ethical outperforms with values-led investing (01:12:16)
18. Governance for Aboriginal community investment and autonomy (01:14:00)
19. Structural barriers to scaling impact investing globally (01:21:38)
20. Communication and accounting gaps in environmental costs (01:32:08)
21. Rapid-fire questions (01:35:37)
22. Contact info (01:47:14)
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