Best private bank for impact and sustainable investing

Lombard Odier, which is a certified B corp, meaning it passes social and environmental metrics set by B Lab, a non-governmental organisation, has developed its expertise and offering since the late 1990s, with the launch of its proprietary ESG (environmental, social and governance)/CAR (consciousness, action and results) framework. Today, its sustainable investment research, strategy and stewardship team is comprised of
economists, environmental engineers, scientists, financial and geospatial analysts, who are responsible for the methodology and scientific framework that underpins the bank’s investment decisions. Partnerships with the University of Oxford and consultancy SystemIQ validate the bank’s scientific assumptions and stress test its models. The Swiss bank believes it is critical to integrate “robust, science-based analysis” into its investment process, and to engage in ongoing dialogue with companies to inform this
analysis. The aim is to understand companies’ levels of alignment with the sustainability transition. “We do not only invest in companies in low carbon sectors today, as we recognise that most of the transition will take place in higher carbon sectors,” says Patrick Odier, senior managing partner, Lombard Odier. Market forces are often underestimated, he says, and with the right incentives, capitalism can be very powerful. “As the price of green solutions continues to fall, business models will
adapt very quickly, creating interesting opportunities,” adds Mr Odier. The firm’s ‘temperature alignment framework’, launched in 2020, enables investors to direct capital towards carbon-intensive, yet Paris-aligned companies that are critical to the economy as well as the journey to net-zero. It also allows investors to avoid companies most
responsible for climate change and most at risk in the climate transition. The bank also recently introduced the concept of ‘climate value impact’ to assess the
financial exposure that companies face in front of their respective transition trajectories, while providing physical and liability risk insights. “We aspire to offer clients investment value propositions and the ability to neutralise
climate-related financial exposure in portfolios. This is the core of our investment philosophy,” says Hubert Keller, senior managing partner, Lombard Odier. ET