Founder & CEO, Regenerative Investment Strategies, LLC (RIS)
The investment industry has made a significant commitment to “ESG integration”, or the inclusion of environmental, societal and ethical (governance) considerations into securities analysis and portfolio construction. But, there is justifiable criticism coming from numerous corners including asset owners, analysts, ESG stakeholders, even regulators, that much of this integration is just theater, or in industry parlance — greenwashing. It is a question of materiality. Are investment outcomes materially different in ways that are observable, quantifiable, meaningful and repeatable for having integrated ESG factors? This session will explore methods for ESG integration, how they do (or do not) contribute to investment outcomes, and how to measure and report risks and outcomes in an environment of greater adoption but also heightened scrutiny.
Mark Sloss started his journey toward a regenerative understanding of business, markets and society growing up on the Colorado front range. After completing his studies, Sloss joined a boutique financial services firm where he learned the fundamentals of markets and investing before joining the New York Life (NYL) Insurance Company in their asset management division. Over the course of 11 years at NYL, he held positions in areas from retirement plans to marketing, research and strategic planning before establishing the Investment Consulting Group to serve the needs of the division’s investment committee. It was as a product of his work for the Group as well as prior work on the launches of several MainStay mutual funds that Sloss began to investigate and appreciate the possibilities at the intersection of the capital markets and considerations of social and environmental factors.
In 2005, Sloss was asked to join UBS Wealth Management Americas to lead institutional manager research, which began another 11-year journey concluding with the founding of Regenerative Investment Strategies. During his time at UBS, he had responsibility for leading research into best-in-class investment managers across asset classes and markets that served the firm’s individual, family and institutional clients.
Writing and speaking have been constant fixtures in his efforts around sustainable investing. He has appeared as a lecturer and panelist at a variety of industry and academic conferences. He has written extensively on sustainability and impact investing including for CityWire USA and the Journal of Sustainable Finance & Banking.
Mark firmly believes there is no better laboratory to test, stress, and prove RIS’ framework and processes than the free market, and has joined Wilde Capital Management as a partner and global multi-asset portfolio manager to build public and private portfolios and practices that move us further down the path to a more sustainable, inclusive and just economy and society.
Sloss is also currently serving as executive director for the Future Capital Initiative, a UN-aligned effort to reformulate global capitalist systems to be more conscious, more equitable and more just in pursuit of the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
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