Jason Mitchell: poetry, sustainable investing, hedge funds, carbon tax, offsets, regulation, activism and stakeholder capitalism

Ben Yeoh Chats

Jason Mitchell is Co-Head of Responsible Investment at Man Group. He was a hedge fund manager and he is a poet. He’s a deep thinker on all things sustainable and finance. He hosts a brilliant podcast on sustainability, A Sustainable Future.

We chat on his poetry and how he witnessed refugees in the Mediterranean sea.And what poetry has taught him.

“rescued by our boat one morning, the man asked me, is it true what they tell us, the traffickers, about these waters, that the sea has no bottom? I told him no, there is indeed a floor, half a mile or more below us. And Europe is a much farther, more difficult journey than the traffickers promised you”.

Whether fund managers on average know enough outside finance and his journey into sustainability.

Jason discusses the Jevons paradox. How we use something more the more efficient it becomes.

Jason gives views in overrated/underrated on:

-Carbon Tax

-Divestment as a social political tool

-Shareholder activism as a theory of change

-Carbon offsets (and shorting as a tool)

-sustainable finance regulation

-Stakeholder capitalism

We end with Jason’s favourite podcasts that he has hosted, what people misunderstand and his advice for others.

“no doesn't mean never”

Transcript and video is available here.

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