Conscious Investing To Address Global Challenges

First-of-its-kind regional event promotes investment for social good

THE IDEA THAT CONSCIOUS INVESTORS MUST ACCEPT CONCESSIONARY RETURNS IS AN OUTDATED MISCONCEPTION THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE IF VALUESBASED INVESTMENT IS EVER GOING TO BECOME TRULY MAINSTREAM – WHICH IT ABSOLUTELY MUST TO ADDRESS THE SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES FACING HUMANITY TODAY.

HATTAN AHMED Head of KAUST Entrepreneurship Center

As the global economy grows in both size and sophistication, new ideas take hold and old ones evolve. This transition is under way across almost all sectors, including global capital markets. Conscious investing – prioritizing social impact alongside capital appreciation – is increasingly popular due to its focus on sustainability and innovation.

Also known as impact investing, it prioritizes both social benefits and the traditional fundamentals of investment: it does not mandate compromise, nor does it require investors to accept lower profits. In fact, in many cases, conscious investment funds outperformed traditional ones during the pandemic. This is, in part, thanks to a focus on investments that help meet the basic needs of people, aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals – the set of 17 objectives to end poverty, reduce inequality and address climate change by 2030. Conscious investing finances solutions that benefit the world, such as ending hunger, providing clean

DOW

“Humanity needs more of what we are doing in Saudi Arabia and at KAUST to solve the seemingly insurmountable and intractable challenges of the environment, sustainability, and providing food and water. The collision of business, government and society is driving this change.”

Andrew Liveris, Former CEO and Chairman of Dow

water and sanitation, improving education, developing affordable and clean energy, and building sustainable cities and communities.

KAUST has taken a leadership role to raise awareness of conscious investing. Red Sea Farms, for example, is a KAUST start-up working on saltwater agriculture to reduce the carbon and water footprint of global food production. Edama Organic Solutions, another KAUST start-up, is developing large-scale composting solutions for cities. In September 2020, KAUST hosted the Conscious Investor Fellowship, a six-week event for GCC investors to learn more about creating sustainable change through high-impact investment. The program had 50% female investors, coming from family offices, angel investor networks, and corporate venture and venture capital firms from across the Gulf. Partners in the event included the investment platform VentureSouq; startAD, the Abu Dhabi-based accelerator anchored at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD); and its partner Tamkeen.

“We’ve seen how technology can act as a multiplier for good; it’s high time for the venture capital space to act as a magnifier for good,” said Sonia Weymuller, Founding Partner at VentureSouq. “This is a step in the right direction to dispel some of the preconceptions regional investors may have about conscious investing and financial returns, and educate the next generation of mission-driven investors from the GCC.” Ramesh Jagannathan, Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship at NYUAD and Managing Director of startAD, added, “We are confident that this new program will enable this change across the Middle East, helping the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem to provide a long-term impact for the future.”