Stewardship in a Post-Pandemic World
Today was the end of a big week. We launched our inaugural 2020/2021 Impact Report at Artesian after 9 months of writing and planning.
Here is an excerpt from my Impact Forward and a summary of the key highlights in the report...
The COVID-19 virus brought about unprecedented disruption across all business sectors causing an ongoing period of global uncertainty and displacement. This cast a harsh light on how many of our systems failed to support those who were made most vulnerable by this virus.
The asymmetrical impact of this crisis means the next few years will be very challenging for those most impacted, and we must ensure that we are investing in a sustainable and resilient recovery for all. The COVID-19 crisis accelerated global digitisation and is forcing businesses to reconsider what the future looks like as previous cycles are irrelevant to the new paradigm. The short and medium-term is now set for a sustained period of disruption and innovative responses to recurring long-term challenges such as climate change and social justice issues.
Harnessing imagination and innovation, the global economy is looking to create new meaning and define better ways of doing business. The scope for creativity is endless – from business models that are more collaborative to experiences that are more immersive, to technology we can utilise for change, and policies we can adapt for the benefit of all.
2021 has been about creating new maps to help us uncover what’s yet to come, and planning a route to the world we want to live in. We’re all exploring, which is creating a safe space for experimentation, prototyping, and learning.
Together, we need to think outside the box and be more collaborative when it comes to dealing with global challenges. It is from this spirit that we send this impact report out into the world - we aim to be transparent, not perfect.
Last year was a turning point for us as a firm, as we started to rethink the way we work, communicate, and think about industry disruption.
We also committed to leaning deeper into our role as responsible investors, questioning investee companies at the earliest stages of a company's life cycle (VC) right through to investment grade corporations on their role in the environment, their influence on supply chains as well as their diversity, equity and inclusion commitments. Through our dialogue with management teams, we seek to impress on our investee companies that focus on sustainability and inclusivity as a business imperative. By weaving environmental, social, and governance concerns into everyday conversations, we hope to seed change in mindsets - and budgets.
While I take great pride in the platform we're building at Artesian - becoming more inclusive, equitable, sustainable in how we recruit, contribute to the wider community, and build products - there is still a long way to go. We believe it's important to hold ourselves accountable, to be bold in our commitments, and to share our impact journey with a spirit of transparency.
Key Themes for 2020/2021
Creating a sustainable future
Advancing gender equity
Active engagement
Highlights from 2020/2021
Portfolio Impact
Artesian leverages our extensive global markets investment experience across the capital structure (from early-stage VC to public debt markets) to deliver impact at scale. We believe that sustainable outcomes deliver profits that can be re-invested to ensure the continuation of virtuous cycles.
Fixed Income: In 2020, our investments in green, social & sustainable issues increased by 231%.
Venture Capital: In 2020, our investments in SDG-linked startups, scaleups, and solutions grew by 91.90%.
Creating a Sustainable Future
Here are four challenge areas that our team is thinking about with an eye towards long-term solutions:
Advancing Gender Equity
In 2020/21, Artesian launched the following impact initiatives to advance gender equity:
SheSyndicate.org, a charitable organisation dedicated to the economic empowerment of women and girls everywhere.
Artesian Women’s Economic Empowerment Bond Fund in partnership with the UN, a fund that invests in liquid debt securities of best in class corporates with progressive gender policies and governance.
Female Leaders Fund: Series A & B investments in female-led startups across Asia-Pacific.
Active Engagement
At Artesian, we are committed to active leadership, learning, and improvement throughout the business. In 2020 we formed our ESG Thought Leadership committee and our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committees, to ensure our ongoing commitment to these goals.
