Video transcript
We're not really wired as humans to think over the long term, and the fact that all of this is happening at the moment makes that tendency to think short term more comfortable and safer. But we're managing money for pension funds. They need our ability to safeguard that money over the long term to deliver value.
My name is Juan Salazar, and I work for Pictet Asset Management. We have a philosophy that is grounded on responsibility. Success in investing is not just financial returns.
We want shared returns, returns that also the world and communities can benefit from. There's so much noise and so much uncertainty out there that it's really difficult to keep focused on the bigger picture. And what investors need to do right now is keep focused on the long term and the fundamentals that dictate what's going to happen in the long term, rather than allow themselves to be rocked by short-term fears.
We've always known that water, nutrition, and health are critical themes for social and economic growth. We're facing systemic challenges like climate change, like nature loss, like the rise of AI, that cannot be diversified away. And they threaten entire markets, entire economies.
What underpins our approach these days is a conviction that investing in solutions to the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges will deliver value over the long term.
Active ownership means being more than just a shareholder. It's about using your capital, your voice, your vote to influence companies' behavior. Holding shares is a passive act. You're just there for the ride.
Active ownership is proactive. It requires time. It requires efforts. It requires patience, because in the end, you're trying to shift people's attention and actions towards practices that are going to be better for the business in the long term.
You need to see yourself as a partner to these companies, not just an investor or not just a provider of capital, if that makes sense. We invest in a leading company providing products and services to the oil and gas industry, and we saw there was space for them to become a leading force in the clean energy transition. After two years of this dialogue, the company announced a 60% increase in their investments in technologies that support the transition.
What drives me is the idea and the reality that I felt sometimes that we, as investors, can use our capital and our power to really affect change. It's really rewarding when companies open their doors, listen to your concerns, listen to your ideas, and eventually you play a part in shifting their attitude, their behavior towards more sustainable practices.