Risk, Return and Responsibility

What does it actually take to move a system? In this episode of Risk, Return & responsibility Caroline Escott, Head of Investment Stewardship and Co-Head of Sustainable Ownership at Railpen, joins us to explain how one of the UK's largest pension schemes turns its position as a universal owner into influence, and why every bit of that work begins and ends with financial outcomes for members.  ...

The US Seeks Answers Guy Opperman, David Harris and Mike Ambery on Trump's pensions revolution, and what UK and European asset owners ought to do about it. Hosted by Stuart Hall.   David and Mike were in Washington and Des Moines last month. They came back with a story worth hearing.   In the US, ESG as a label is finished, the Department of Labor is opening 401(k) defaults to private credit and a...

Risk, Return and Responsibility - Episode 10 What if doing the responsible thing with your pension wasn’t about values at all - but about returns, risk, and reality?  Risk, Return and Responsibility, former UK Pensions Minister Guy Opperman and Chris Hall, Editor of Asset Owner Network, sit down with Alex Wright‑Gladstein, Founder and CEO of US fund provider Sphere, to unpack one of the most misun...

In this episode, Rebalance Earth’s Rob Gardner explains why institutional investors must view nature as "living infrastructure" to mitigate systemic climate risks and secure long-term, performance-linked returns. Risk, Return and Responsibility — the monthly podcast from Sustainable Investor — provides institutional asset owners with the news and views shaping the sustainable investment landscape...

Risk, Return and Responsibility—the monthly podcast from Sustainable Investor—provides institutional asset owners with the news and views shaping the sustainable investment landscape and our wider economic and social systems. In this episode, former UK pensions minister Guy Opperman and Sustainable Investor Editorial Director Chris Hall talk to Marisa Hall, Head of the Thinking Ahead Institute (TA...

Risk, Return and Responsibility—the monthly podcast from Sustainable Investor—provides institutional asset owners with the news and views shaping the sustainable investment landscape and our wider economic and social systems. In this latest episode, former UK Pensions Minister Guy Opperman and Sustainable Investor Editorial Director Chris Hall are joined by Mike Ambery, Retirement Savings Director...

In 2025’s final episode of Risk, Return and Responsibility, the monthly podcast from Sustainable Investor, former UK Pensions Minister Guy Opperman and Editorial Director Chris Hall are joined for an end-of-year reckoning by Dr Anthony Kirby, ex-Head of Regulation and Risk for Asset Management and Capital Markets in Europe at EY.    Together, they review 2025’s big themes and give their views on t...

What does financial wellbeing really mean for pension members today? For the latest episode of Sustainable Investor, Stuart Hall, Managing Director of Sustainable Media Group sat down with Blake Allison, founder and CEO of LifeCents, to look beyond the slogans and into the reality of how people behave with money. Blake has spent more than twenty years working with major US employers and financial...

In this episode, we explore the likely impacts on asset owners’ climate and nature exposures of reforms to the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and developments at COP30; also looking forward to the next steps for natural capital accounting and universal ownership.   Risk, Return and Responsibility – the monthly podcast from Sustainable Investor - aims to provide institutional asset owner...

In this ‘interview-only’ episode, we explore the role of Australia’s superannuation funds in the country’s embrace of clean energy, with Jeremy Cooper and David Bell of the Conexus Institute. Risk, Return and Responsibility – the monthly podcast from Sustainable Investor – aims to provide institutional asset owners with news and views shaping both the sustainable investment landscape and our wider...

In this episode, we ask when will investors get the information they need to invest confidently in the net zero transition, following turmoil in Brussels and the banking sector; we also underline Sustainable Investor’s October focus on transition finance by exploring the status of corporate transition planning and the merits of making it mandatory.    Co-hosts: Guy Opperman, the UK’s longest-servi...

In this episode, we examine the implications for asset owners of the heavy political weather for sustainable investment in New York and Washington, and look beyond to practical challenges - from Europe’s defence boom to delayed deforestation legislation to nature-related reporting. Co-hosts: Guy Opperman, the UK’s longest-serving Pensions Minister & Chair of Sustainable Investor's editorial bo...