Impact investing is about investing in the change you want to see in the world; impact investing is about being invested not just to maximize your return, but also to leave your mark.
It may seem like bad timing to bring up the topic of investment right now, in May 2022, when markets regularly panic and volatility curves look more like the profiles of the Dolomites than Dollerup Bakker.
Now is the time to buy green shares, not just to make money, but also to mark a position and help create momentum; in particular to boost green companies and the green transition.
The bottlenecks in the supply chains and various deficiencies on the supply side on top of the wild and expansive fiscal policy of the corona years, have made it necessary to put a damper on price developments, which is why we now see the central banks tightening the interest rates to counter the galloping inflation. The war in Ukraine and the fear of Putin's possible (over)reaction to Sweden and Finland's imminent accession to NATO, have in no way reduced the uncertainty.
But regardless of the current unrest and fears of recession there is still plenty of money in circulation. If you—as I absolutely believe you should—invest for the long term, it is not necessarily a bad time to buy up and position yourself in the stock market.
When the German, Dutch and Belgian prime ministers and commission chairman von der Leyen meet with Mette Frederiksen today at the green summit in Esbjerg, it undoubtedly reflects Europe's urgent security policy need to wrestle itself free of Russian gas going forward. But at the same time the summit marks a more than welcome rebound for the green transition.
After a huge upturn with lots of momentum in 2019 and 2020, at the start of 2021 we already over a wide range saw the green shares take a huge beating. It was as if the whole narrative of the green transition was overtaken by a sluggish and overly imaginative political reality and the investors' confidence suddenly disappeared. A condition that has since apparently become more or less permanent.
However, few will doubt that the need is there; that we face an enormous challenge and thus also an enormous business potential.
If we look 10 and 20 years into the future, there is no doubt that the way we think about energy, transport, and not least food is significantly different. The future will either be green or it won't be at all.
Therefore: Now is the time to buy green shares, not just to make money, but also to mark a position and help create momentum; in particular to boost green companies and the green transition. Buy some of the Nordic favourites, or spread the risk a little more and go wide with either iShares Global Clean Energy or L&G Clean Energy.
Together we have the opportunity to (re)start a rising tide that, as Chase Jarvis likes to say in another context, raises all boats and not just one.
Do your kids a favor: put the eggs in the green basket.
