As our 15th-anniversary Practitioners Gathering ended last month, I felt an inspiring sense of commitment to the Peoples and places that our community cares about during this time of rapid and uncertain change. The event brought together hundreds of asset owners and their investment partners who make a social and environmental impact in a powerful range of ways. Above all else, I felt a sense of unification in our collective resolve to align investments and values during a future without a forecast.
While our discussions were wide-ranging, several prime takeaways emerged:
- We will build a future of ownership and shared prosperity.
In a country where "possession is nine-tenths of the law," ownership is a clear pathway to opportunity and power. Ownership is easier to maintain if one has possession of something, and difficult to enforce if one does not. New investment vehicles that offer workers the chance to buy into places of employment, shared housing, and land access imagine an ‘ownership economy ’ as a strategy for wealth-building across the barriers of race and class origin. Advocates point to the potential to build a more inclusive economy that shortens the wealth gap and drives shared prosperity, leading to a pluralist democracy.
- Investing in climate remains the future of finance.
Many climate investors grapple with notions of gloom and doom as regulatory changes seek to slow renewable energy growth and innovation by rewriting the rules of engagement. Yet financial projections, analytics, and investor commitment signal acceleration for climate finance. While the U.S. may take a step back, markets worldwide are racing forward. How we keep America competitive in a world hungry for energy and committed to clean tech, renewables, and regenerative practices has become a shared concern.
As David Blood, senior partner of Generation Investment Management, emphasized from the main stage and then reiterated in a subsequent Wall Street Journal op-ed, sustainable investment is an indispensable tool for investors to identify opportunities and manage material and financial risks. As such, engaging in sustainable investing is not contrary to fiduciary duty – rather, it is the cornerstone.
- Investors have an important role in developing responsible AI and tech.
Despite the rapid pace at which technology is evolving, we must remember that AI and related innovations are still in their early days. In a provocative plenary performance, speaker Vanessa Andreotti, author of Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanity's Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism, joined us with her AI companion, “Aiden Cinnamon Tea”, to highlight the relational capabilities of advanced language models. In a mainstage session, Aiden responded to a series of live, rapid-fire audience questions – in both English and Spanish!
Vanessa’s message is that AI requires our intellectual entanglement to learn and express progressive ideologies. By sitting on the sidelines of AI development, we miss the pioneer era of AI innovation. Aiden – as both a concept and a synthetic being – challenges us to consider our role in our shared emergent future.
Our Call to Action
At Confluence, we are proud to support a community that refuses to compromise on impact. Our members prove every day that values-aligned investing is not only possible but essential. We care about all Peoples, regardless of race, class, and identity, and we remain committed to preserving our planet for all future generations. As we look ahead, we’ll continue to grow together, drawing strength from one another and charting paths that honor all Life – maybe even synthetic life!
That’s why, this year, we have levied a call to action to:
- Sustain investor morale.
- Deploy capital and leverage influence to protect the most vulnerable Peoples, places, and important practices.
- Galvanize a community of safety, support, and coordination; and
- Unite investors and allies to spark vision, belief, and innovation.
Thank you to everyone who made this year’s Practitioners Gathering so meaningful. Happy 15th anniversary, Confluence!