124: : ESG/EHG: The future of sustainable investing and ESG in India: Arvind Chari and Chirag Mehta, Quantum Advisors

Show notes:The ESG backlash is real, and it is polarising. The rhetoric around it exacerbated because of roll backs by corporates and governments on climate/energy commitments. According to a leading ESG publication, Trump’s victory in the world’s second largest democracy, is likely to result in roll backs on climate and ESG regulation in the country and retreat from the global stage. Despite all the noise against ESG - asset managers globally are expected to increase their ESG related AuM to US$33.9 trillion by 2026 (84% growth). The driver for growth for ESG activity is not altruism but value creation.  In India the world’s largest democracy there are reasons for cautious optimism, with the government introducing a slew of policy changes over the last decade, that makes it obligatory for organisations to adopt an ESG lens for sustainability reporting. Since 2022-23, the top 1000 listed companies are obliged to follow the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting framework. The driver of course is India’s ambition to be a 7 trillion economy by 2030. There is lots to be done but the country is on the path.To discuss India’s journey on ESG and Sustainability reporting I spoke with Arvind Chari and Chirag Mehta, Quantum Advisors in the 124th episode of The Elephant in the Room podcast. The focus of the conversation was global and local trends and Quantum’s own approach to ESG investing. We spoke about 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾👉🏾 The drivers for sustainable investing👉🏾 Responsible (patient investing) and what it means. Adding a 5th P to the 4 Ps investment management - predictability or patient capital 👉🏾 The reason for developing Quantum’s own due diligence process or integrity screening mechanism👉🏾  How weightage on governance can drive better E and S performance for an organisation👉🏾 Sustainable investing in the Indian context (considering India needs approx. $200 billion a year), where the country is on the sustainable investing journey👉🏾 Public equity markets as the low hanging fruit for sustainable investing in India👉🏾  Whether Indian companies are prepared to meet the regulatory requirements in particular BRSRWe also spoke about the ESG backlash, social license to operate, whether ESG funds perform better than funds that don’t have an ESG lens, the EHG trilemma and The 🐘 in the Room. If sustainability, sustainable investing, transparency and accountability is your thing check out Quantum’s ‘The Little White Book of Governance’.Disclaimer: Quantum Advisors are not my client and I remain sceptical of the investment management & PE industry and their relentless pursuit of profits. However, we know how critical they are to achieving global and local climate and SDG targets. I was drawn to Quantum's mantra ‘Be good and Do good’ and intrigued by the integrity screen.Check it out for yourself – links in the comment 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾#esginvesting #esg #sustainability #impact investing #governance #Climatehange #SDGsEpisode TranscriptSudha: Good morning, Arvind and Good Afternoon, Chirag. Wonderful to have both of you on The Elephant in the Room podcast today.Arvind: Sudha, it's good to have us. Your name of the podcast itself is so interesting, and there are always a lot of elephants in the room to be discussed about so great to be talking to