Global PSSL is “unleashing three titans of the investment world” to co-chair a new workstream focused on the inter-relationship between long-short investment strategies and environmental, social and governance (ESG), according to its CEO Radek Stech (bottom right).
Carson Block (top left), founder of Muddy Waters Capital, Gabriel Grego, managing partner of Quintessential Capital Management (top right), and John Hempton (bottom left), founder of Bronte Capital, will co-chair the ‘Short–Long Investments and ESG’ workstream alongside Stech.
Commenting on the new appointments, Stech says: “Having engaged with Carson, Gabriel and John over several weeks, I am impressed with their understanding of the broader investment picture and clear motivation to work towards exploring the relationships between the constituent components of ESG.
“This is going to be a powerful evidence-based workstream that will expand our understanding of this fundamental relationship.”
Global PSSL is the result of a metamorphosis from the now-defunct Council for Sustainable Finance, which was launched and chaired by Stech in partnership with the International Securities Lending Association in December 2019, following more than a year of preparation, until October.
The council was founded with the mission to craft and promote a document which would assist financing markets to standardise their interpretations of what was ESG-friendly, known as the ‘global principles for sustainable securities sending’.
“High-quality research, innovation and positive impact sit at the heart of global principles for sustainable securities sending,” Stech writes in the latest progress report. “I have stressed that right from the beginning of the journey, back in 2018, when I started this collaborative work with beneficial owners.
“I have emphasised this when engaging with various regulators. Exploring and understanding the relationship between short and long investments and short activism must sit at the core of our impact.”
Stech also used the report to hint that further buy-side entities may be named as stakeholders in the near future.
The latest appointments follow shortly after Global PSSL unveiled another workstream focused on developing sustainable securities lending businesses in emerging markets.
The workstream is currently centred on Africa with Oluwatoyin Alake of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Juanita Taylor of Standard Bank in South Africa acting as co-chairs. Taylor is also chair of the South African Securities Lending Association.
Babatunde Majiyagbe of Stanbic IBTC Bank in Nigeria and Roy Zimmenhansl, Global PSSL’s strategic advisor on global practice, and outreach are also understood to be contributing to this workstream.
