Writer and photographer with a long (and still current) history in asset management journalism. Travel writing and street art photography keep me out of trouble.
Pollution
Blue Sky Thinking
“Fortune is arranging matters for us better than we could have shaped our desires ourselves” – Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote
The Great Lockdown's silver lining has been a drop in air pollution and an increase in the quality of water. But as urban birdsong starts to be drowned out by the return of cars and planes, can we really ‘afford’ to go back to normal? The political debate, at least in the US and UK, appears to be a stark choice between the economy and our collective health. Is this right?
Bribery and corruption: Sustainability’s nemesis
SDG 16.5, covering bribery and corruption, is central to other SDGs but hard to tackle in practice
The annual costs of corruption amount to $3.6trn in the form of bribes and stolen money, according to United Nations secretary-general António Guterres, speaking on International Anti-Corruption Day last year. Put into context, $3.6trn was more than 4% of global GDP at the time. That sum is greater than the $2.5trn estimated by UNCTAD that is needed to close the SDG financing gap to achieve the Global Goals by 2030. Corruption manifests in ways that touch most of the SDGs, so what can be done?
Impact integrity in private equity
Robust and credible reporting standards will be essential to avoid any suspicion of impact washing
Even before a group led by The Rockefeller Foundation coined the term ‘impact investing’ in 2007, some firms had already started using private equity, venture capital and private debt strategies to generate attractive financial returns and social or environmental impact. This is hardly surprising, as the degree of governance control allows venture/private equity strategies to be aligned with impact more readily. But as brand name private equity firms enter, how can impact integrity be ensured?
Investors: Making money matter
How are asset owners looking to scale up impact as their portfolios and experience grow?
Resilience is the noun of our times. Not just from a human perspective, but also economically. When a ‘new normal’ arrives, could COVID-19 bring an element of humanity into investing? Some believe impact investing is one mechanism for building returns-driven resilient portfolios. So far, more than $500bn of the $13trn invested within some kind of responsible investment framework is in impact investments, according to the Global Impact Investing Network.
Breathing trust and truth in the desert on a Sea Inside retreat with Discover Your Depths in Egypt
Niki Natarajan reviews Discover Your Depths’ Sea Inside retreat in Dahab, Egypt where with the discipline of learning to freedive and surrendering to Kundalini mantras at sunset with inspirational freediver and yoga teacher Sara Campbell she reconnects to her teacher within.
Discover Your Depths Retreats, Dahab, Egypt
Discover your depths by learning to freedive in Dahab, find your voice in the silence of the Sinai—the throat chakra of the world—and reconnect to inner stillness as you fall asleep gazing at the star-filled sky. British kundalini yoga teacher and four-times freediving former world record-holder, Sara Campbell, integrates yoga, breath awareness, meditation, coaching, freediving and a desert experience to allow you to explore what holds you back to learn how to live a calmer and more present life, ultimately without fear.
Review Grayshott Medical Spa, England
From a day-long spa pamper to the signature 7-Day Gut Health Regime, Lord Alfred Tennyson’s former country home in the heart of Surrey just south of Guildford, has been the civilised place to retreat to rest, relax and recharge for more than five decades. With more than 65 treatments and therapies, spa facilities, gym, classes, tennis courts, swimming pools and a golf course, the mind, body and soul are cared for and Adam Palmer’s fantastic ‘Gut Gastronomy’ will ensure you feel sated.
Gut rest and regeneration at Grayshott Medical Spa in Surrey
Niki Natarajan reviews the renowned 7 Day Gut Health Regime at Grayshott Medical Spa in Surrey and loses 7lbs in seven days as myths about diets and food fads are busted.
Managed Accounts 2019: Bridging the Gap
A decade since the financial crisis empowered managed accounts as the institutional go-to structure for transparency, liquidity and control of hedge fund strategies, assets on dedicated platforms continue to grow, driven by convergence, customisation, emerging managers, and soon, socially conscious investing. The ability to parse big data is key if service-driven and allocator platforms want to enable investors to enhance ‘alpha’ operationally and structurally.
Plastic Planet
Rubbish or Resource?
“Plastic is indeed now on the menu” – Prince of Wales
Imagine an island three times the size of France in the Pacific. Idyllic, right? Hardly. This 1.6 million square kilometre floating mass is made of more than 1.8 trillion pieces of rubbish. Add to this that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea and the futures looks bleak. Yet, plastics is now in the throes of a revolution. How can both people and the planet profit from plastic?
Human Impact
Apocalypse When?
“We are facing a man-made disaster of global scale…Time is running out” Sir David Attenborough
Despite the Doomsday Clock hand remaining at two minutes to midnight for 2019, the imminent threats to humanity and the planet continue as world security enters a period of ‘new abnormal’. Three of the top five risks by likelihood (and four by impact) in the 2019 Global Risk Perception Survey are environmental.
Re-Imagining Self with Advivum Journeys in Hawaii
On the friendly Hawai’ian isle of Molokai, Niki Natarajan reviews Advivum Journeys’ transformational retreat where through hula, candid portraits and life coaching, her Re-Imagined Self is ready to rock the second act on a women-only retreat.
Advivum Journeys, Hawaii
Formal review of a life coaching retreat in Hawaii. An Advivum journey is a self-discovery process that reconnects you to your authentic self, re-igniting passion and purpose so that you return from the seven-night retreat with the glow of inner wisdom that will guide you towards life’s next stage.
Well-being
Economics of Happiness
“The greatest wealth is health” – Virgil
Two thousand years ago, Virgil made a very good point. Today, wellness—the quality or state of being healthy—is a significant creator of wealth. Funded by the stressed-out city-living executive and the youth-seeking ‘Silver Tsunami’, the wellness economy is now converging with the global health care industry and growing at 6.4%, per annum, faster than the global economy.
Anticipating the Boom-bust Cycle in Cryptocurrencies: When does an Ecosystem Become an Echo-chamber
Interviewing veteran hedge fund investor Jeffrey Tarrant on the future of asset management, Bitcoin, Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies.