Global head of investment content at Towers Watson about sustainable investment

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When Roger Urwin, global head of investment content at Towers Watson, the investment consultant, turns his mind to a subject, the pensions world listens. Urwin, one of the most influential investment advisors around, has worked with many of the world's largest retirement schemes. His recent attention to the theme of sustainable investing is notable because of his experience in the reality of pension fund practice and governance. Urwin says his concept of sustainable investing is a blend of long-term investing, integrated environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations in investment, active ownership and inter-generational solidarity <...>

More broadly, he says he is both optimistic and pessimistic that, post credit crisis, the financial markets can be put on a path to sustainable growth: "I do listen to, and sometimes agree with those people that say they are optimistic because human nature has boundless ability to deal with things. But I think people are underestimating the new reality of a tightly coupled financial world in which we've dialed in a propensity for financial accidents. The global financial crisis is not properly finished: it's just morphing into something else. We've dealt with the symptoms but not many of the causes."