In the first two parts of this exclusive interview series with GBI Magazine (click here to read the second part), Jenson Funding Partners’ Sarah Barber discusses the company’s role in the industry and the recent dip in popularity for ESG funds.
Barber explains the difference between B Corp and impact fund managers and provides her insight on the state of ESG funds.
Q: As one of the first B Corp certified fund managers in the tax efficient investment space would you describe yourself as an impact fund manager?
An Impact Fund is an investment vehicle that aims to generate both financial returns and positive social and environmental outcomes. Whilst we have a handful of companies making an environmental impact we wouldn’t describe our funds as Impact Funds, however, we do have a strong drive to incorporate aspects of ESG.
In September 2023 Jenson Funding Partners released their first Impact Report. As a Certified B Corp we are very much driven by underpinning our core values and ethics as a Fund Manager and embedding them within our portfolio of investment opportunities offered to investors. Jenson partners profit with purpose as part of our ethos and their commitment to B Corp only enhances this. The theory being that good ESG practices create better returns. Jenson believes that VCs can be a force for good with opportunity and change.
As a venture capital firm investing at a very early stage, we have always believed that we can make a difference.
Q: It has recently been reported that the popularity of ESG funds has started to dip, do you think this will start to come back to the forefront and why is ESG important?
Unfortunately, I think there has been a rise in green washing in recent years and that ESG has been taken as an extreme way of investing whereas at its core it is about governance and how you grow a business with good practises rather than going to the extreme. That is the problem of labelling things.
I believe that the Fund Managers that truly have Impact and ESG at heart will continue to work on this and keep focussed on what is important to them as a Manager whilst also generating financial returns for their investors.
What I believe is really important about ESG is that these are practices that create greater returns for all stakeholders involved. The G governance should sit over the E environmental and the S social, we need to make sure as an early stage investor that we do not terrify a founder with ESG but ensure that they are thinking about it from the start. It doesn’t mean that the business needs to have an environmental impact, more and more people are growing interested in a companies environmental impact i.e. its customers and suppliers. If you are thinking about this at the start of the curve and the regulatory piece of the E it will be easier to monitor/grow going forward. When it come to the S it has been demonstrated that having an inclusive and diverse team increases profits and returns. If you have a variety of thought going into your company then you can pick the best ideas from that rather than the ideas coming from the same homogenous group. Governance should sit over all this, if you are not on top of your numbers and data you cannot learn from what you have done and move forward. Founders shouldn’t be scared of ESG.
Our fund has always invested at an early stage with the belief that. If we are committed to investing in the best solutions and the best ideas, then we need to be attracting them from the entire market – not the same homogenous group.
