TED Talks have evolved to the point where they occupy a unique place in intellectual culture. They have become, somewhat paradoxically, the mainstream for leading edge ideas. So it is gratifying to report that Sustainable Investing now has its own TED talk.
Chris McKnett, Head of ESG Investing at State Street Global Advisors, has for a number of years been both a practitioner and an articulate advocate for sustainable investing. That’s why he was a natural choice to moderate the panel of Investment Managers at our November BSAS Mainstreaming Sustainable Investing seminar in Boston. Around that same time Chris was one of a handful of thought leaders at State Street selected to give a TED talk at a TED-curated event jointly produced by TED and State Street.
Chris’s talk for this event was titled “The Investment Logic for Sustainability“. It’s now available on the TED site. The talk is well worth recommending to someone as an introduction to why sustainability considerations – environmental, social and governance factors – are important to investors.
But don’t skip past it simply because you already know that. Watching Chris navigate this topic in twelve minutes offers insights into communicating that understanding to your own audience of colleagues, prospects and clients.
In fact, Chris provides a succinct road map for three essential points to communicate about sustainable investing when he says that sustainable investing is:
- less complicated than you think…
- better performing than you believe…
- and more important than you can imagine.