2010 –
Building a 100% Impact Portfolio
Recognizing the severity and urgency of the global issues we face today, and recognizing that philanthropic capital alone is insufficient to solve the myriad of challanges we face, Annie and RS Group began applying our entire capital portfolio towards the objective of investing for a better world in 2010. Over 5 years, we gradually replaced traditional investment managers who were only driven by financial returns, with ESG and impact managers. We also sought out organizations whose work had catalytic impact on tackling some of the most complex sustainability challenges facing the world, and provided capacity building grant support.
The impetus behind building this 100% sustainably invested portfolio is our belief that we have a choice, and indeed a responsibility, to invest in a way that contributes to the well-being of society and the planet, while generating a financial return that meets our needs. We deploy our capital with full awareness of the possible range of direct and indirect value creation (or destruction) from our investments, not only as it affects ourselves, but the wider society.
2013
Climate Lens
Informed by the growing divest-invest movement, in 2013 we added an explicit focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation to our portfolio. As a result, we divested from all exposures to coal and oil exploration and production companies, and selectively invests in natural gas companies provided they have a strategy that supports the transition to a lower carbon economy. We also increased our allocation to targeted impact investments in energy efficiency and transition to a low carbon energy system, and demanded our asset managers to better incorporate climate risks in their investment process and in their engagement and prosy voting with companies. On the grant side, we increased our support to NGOs working on environmental issues, as well as those working on investor advocacy initiatives around climate impact of investments.
As a result,we were able to reduce the financial risk posed by “unburnable carbon” to our portfolio, and also achieved a lower carbon footprint compared to benchmark.
2016
Launched Our Impact Report
In addition to investing our own capital sustainably, we also wanted to grow the community of impact investors in Asia. We want to share our experience, to encourage other investors to deploy their capital sustainably, and help them avoid our mistakes.
With this in mind, we released our “RS Group Impact Report” in May 2016, sharing our five years’ (2010-15) journey and lessons learned from putting into practice our ideas and thinking on responsible capital management. We hope in sharing our story of building a Total Portfolio, we can inspire and empower others to embrace positive change through their own actions.
2016 – 19
Incubated and Launched SFi
Following the positive reception of our Impact Report, we realized a more comprehensive effort was required to build the sustainable investor community in the region. This drove us to incubate and launch a dedicated platform–the Sustainable Finance Initiative (SFi) (link text)–in 2018, to support the private investor community in HK and around the region.
Today, SFi is an independent organization, whose mission is to mobilise mobilise private capital for positive impact in Hong Kong and Asia. By empowering family offices, private investors and financial services professionals with the knowledge and expertise to invest for purpose and profit, they are building the impact investment landscape in Asia.
2019 –
Climate Change and Nature-based Solutions (NbS)
A healthy planet underpins all life as well as human flourishing, and yet climate and environmental causes only receive a small fraction of total philanthropic giving. We feel a deep sense of urgency with regards to the ongoing climate crisis, and have committed our capital and efforts into becoming a catalytic force in ensuring public discussion and action on climate change issues in Hong Kong and beyond.
Since 2019, RS Group have focused on Nature Based Solutions as a core component of our on-going climate change work. We have put our own capital, as well as aim to attract other investment capital, into supporting innovative nature-based investment solutions to value, protect, and restore the world’s natural assets that humanity’s survival depends upon. Our NbS initiatives include: creating a 3-year Asia Natural Capital blended finance window with Convergence Blended Finance, launching Asia’s first Nature Venture Builder, with much more in our pipeline.