United StatesThe Impax Sustainability Centre acts as our centre of excellence providing knowledge, tools and expertise on investing in the transition to a more sustainable economy to Impax and our clients. This allows Impax to meet the growing expectations of clients, regulators and other stakeholders. It also enables us to maintain our strong position in dealing with the rapidly expanding range and depth of sustainability issues.
The Impax Sustainability Centre is led by Co-Heads Lisa Beauvilain (Global Head of Sustainability & Stewardship) and Chris Dodwell (Global Head of Policy & Advocacy) who share management responsibilities and report directly into Impax’s Chief Executive, Ian Simm.
The Impax Sustainability Centre has four key areas of focus, as outlined below.
* Environmental, Social and Governance
Investment sustainability & stewardship
Sustainability is fully integrated within Impax’s investment process. The Impax Sustainability Centre provides leadership, advice and oversight of investment-related sustainability research, thematic and sustainable universe development, impact measurement, development of proprietary tools and methodologies, management of the fundamental and Systematic ESG analysis and processes, and stewardship work including proxy voting and company-specific and thematic engagement, as well as policy insights for the investment process.
Advocacy & outreach
We aim to support policy makers who are working to create enabling environments that will accelerate the transition to a more sustainable economy. We are active across a range of channels, from traditional reactive approaches such as working through industry associations, responding to consultations, and participating in issue-specific initiatives and sign-on letters – to more innovative pro-active interventions such as publishing Impax’s perspectives and commentaries, funding research, piloting new approaches, partnering with clients, and bilateral discussions with policy makers. Impax’s efforts around “systematic stewardship” fall under this area of focus. Systematic stewardship combines company thematic engagement and policy advocacy as levers for accelerated change.
Thought leadership
Impax’s thought leadership and insights supports our investment process, as well as our clients and the industry at large. The Impax Sustainability Centre’s thought leadership provides Impax’s house view on important and evolving topics, supports research partnerships with academia and clients, and provides Impax’s firm-wide sustainability training and development.
Sustainability client advisory & reporting
The Impax Sustainability Centre also advises on sustainability in Impax’s product development, sustainable finance regulatory responses and reporting including the metrics and methodologies used to create Impax’s firm wide and client specific sustainability reporting. The Sustainability Centre also develops Impax’s firm-wide sustainability policies and is responsible for providing sustainability reporting expertise and insights to Impax’s clients.
Stewardship and Advocacy Report
Impact Report
Lisa Beauvilain
Lisa co-heads the Impax Sustainability Centre. As the Global Head of Sustainability & Stewardship she is responsible for sustainability and stewardship in Impax’s investments and for the sustainability insights in the firm’s Beyond Financial Returns activities, such as product development and reporting. She co-chairs Impax’s Sustainability Lens committee and is a member of Impax’s Senior Leadership Team.
Lisa joined Impax in 2010. She started working in the financial industry in 1999 and previously worked as an executive director in the Investment Management Division of Goldman Sachs in London.
She is actively participating in industry working groups and advisory councils furthering sustainable practices in industry organisations such as the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN). She is a member of the Nominations Board of Kemira Oyj, Finland and a former Trustee of the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED).
Lisa has an MSc in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics and an MSc in Finance from the Hanken School of Economics, Finland.
Recent Insights
Stewardship and Advocacy Report 2024
In our seventh annual report, we showcase our stewardship and advocacy activities in 2023 and summarise the outcomes arising from our focused efforts.
Addressing PFAS: Solutions to the forever challenge
We believe the urgent need to detect, treat and destroy ‘forever chemicals’ in the world’s water is creating investment opportunities that are broader and more valuable than many appreciate
Additional Insights
Outlook 2024: Why prospects for a more sustainable economy remain undimmed
We share our perspectives on key themes that we believe will shape opportunities in global markets in 2024 and beyond.
Chris Dodwell
Chris co-heads the Impax Sustainability Centre and is the Global Head of Policy & Advocacy at Impax Asset Management, a specialist investor focused on opportunities arising from the transition to a sustainable economy.
The Policy & Advocacy team is responsible for advising Impax’s investment teams on the impacts of public policy and leads the firm’s work to support the development of new policies to accelerate a net-zero, nature-positive transition.
Chris joined Impax in 2019. Prior to joining Impax, Chris worked on climate policy for the UK Government for more than a decade, where he led the UK implementation of the European carbon trading system and the UK delegation to the international climate negotiations. Later, as Director of Climate Change at Ricardo Energy and Environment, Chris supported more than 15 countries in developing and implementing their national climate pledges under the Paris Agreement.
Chris is an active member of the policy committees and advisory councils of industry associations including UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) and the Investment Association. He is co-chair of the Transition Plan Taskforce’s asset manager working group and a Climate Change Commission for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.
Chris has a BA Hons in Classics from the University of Cambridge and an LLM in Environmental Law from University College London.
Recent Insights
Stewardship and Advocacy Report 2024
In our seventh annual report, we showcase our stewardship and advocacy activities in 2023 and summarise the outcomes arising from our focused efforts.
Additional Insights
Asset managers urged to boost government outreach to drive climate solutions investments
Published by CleanTechIQ, featuring Chris Dodwell and Charlie Donovan
COP28: Reflections and implications for investors
In this video, Chris Dodwell discusses the implications of the COP28 climate summit, reflecting on the impact of a net-zero roadmap for the global food system
While Impax may consult with other market participants on certain engagement efforts, Impax unilaterally determines whether and to what extent to engage with other stakeholders and all of Impax’s investment decisions are independent and based on its own, unilateral strategy for maximizing return on investment.