Going green at cop26

A message from Chris Cummings

Going green for cop26

A message from Chris Cummings

Hello,

By the time this email lands in your inbox, I’ll be in Glasgow for COP26 where the IA is a trade association partner for the Green Horizon Summit - jointly run by the City of London Corporation and the Green Finance Institute. We’re hosting an event this Wednesday, and I will be chairing a panel session on mobilising finance for sustainable investment in emerging markets. We can’t underestimate the importance of COP26 and the need for all of us to play our part in the fight against climate change. We say more about what we hope to see out of conference and beyond in this edition of Nexus.

Last week the Chancellor delivered his Autumn Budget. We welcomed the planned consultation on the DC charge cap and the potential reforms that will shift the debate onto the value, not just costs, delivered by investing into areas such as infrastructure and other illiquid investments. We also saw the Chancellor recommit to the review of the UK funds regime and encouraging further innovation such as the Long-Term Asset Fund. This builds on the FCA’s policy statement on the LTAF which was also published last week. We were pleased to see a commitment from the FCA to look closely at allowing the LTAF to be sold to a broader range of retail investors, with the proper safeguards in place, in the future. Ideally, we would have wanted more ambition from the regulator but will continue to press the case for innovation.

Later this month we look forward to the Prime Ministers & Chancellor’s Big Bang for Investment Summit – where the Government will seek support from all parts of the investment industry to recognise the opportunity to invest more in long term assets. While it is easy to support the ambition there are quite a number of practical and regulatory issues to be addressed in order to make it a reality. Further information on the Summit will be sent to members in the weeks ahead.

On the topic of summits, I’m really pleased to announce our own plans to host a new Global Investment Management Summit, working closely with the City of London Corporation and the Department for International Trade in June next year.

The summit will showcase the UK as the pre-eminent global hub for our industry and, in-turn, help members promote their expertise. The Summit will bring together member firms with the industry’s most influential clients and decision-makers from around the world, showcasing the calibre, innovation and depth of the industry.

It will be held in London, using historic venues such as the Guildhall, over two days, and with the attendance of the most senior members of the Government and regulators to show their support for the industry. If you would like to learn more, please contact Jack Knight: jack.knight@theia.org.

Finally I wanted to flag two resources that you might find useful. This past month we launched our revamped IA NED Forum. The IA NED Forum offers essential resources to ensure NEDs and iNEDS are informed and confident in fulfilling their roles, including access to the latest policy developments, research, reports, and training, as well as regular opportunities to network. If you would like to find out more or want to join, please visit the IA NED Forum here.

We’ve also launched our new online consultation tracker. It’s designed to be an easy to use tool which outlines all consultations that the IA is involved in. The tracker can provide details on the consultations, archived consultation responses and contact details if you need to know more about a consultation.

In this month’s Nexus we focus on COP26, and the government’s new report Greening Finance. We’re also looking at cyber resilience and the opening of our latest Engine cohort for innovative FinTechs.

I hope you enjoy it.

Chris