Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management

At Kempen we invest in three areas of listed infrastructure: transport, communications and energy. Over the past year there’s been a marked divergence in the returns of firms involved in these different sectors.

While many asset managers are now focusing on ESG issues, we’d like to look into the future and recognise the sustainability journey that companies are on rather than adopting a short-sighted focus on the current situation.

The amount of data the world is creating has exploded in recent years. Data analysis has huge potential to inform investment decisions, but that’s easier said than done.

The recent announcement by new US President Joe Biden of massive investments to improve the country’s infrastructure and hasten its transition to clean energy has hit the headlines.

Climate change has deep ramifications for human and ecological wellbeing, and the material effects of our changing environment are becoming ever more present in capital markets. 

Through our engagements, we seek to encourage positive change at companies. We engage on a broad range of strategic, financial, corporate governance, environmental and social aspects.

Sectors from transport to technology may never be the same again in the wake of the global pandemic. Yet in spite of its profound challenges, 2020 was a momentous year for sustainable investment.

Recently we talked about how sustainability is the sixth wave of innovation, and that it represents a compelling opportunity for investors.

In this blog, we set out why we believe taking an active approach is so important when investing sustainably, using the example of two stocks that we hold in our portfolio.

In this blog we take a closer look at how regulators and wider society are demanding change and how companies need to respond, using the examples of two stocks.