Month: February 2024

For our Future magazine, we interviewed Areta Sobieraj, Global Citizenship Education Lead of Oxfam Italy. The condition of women, the fight against gender inequalities and the social effects of the climate crisis are some of the most relevant issues highlighted in the interview.

You can also read the story here: https://sustainable-procurement.sofidel.com/future-magazine/2023/05/04/gender-equity-poverty-and-climate-justice-oxfams-mission-to-fight-against-inequalities/

About The Sofidel Group  

The Sofidel Group, a privately held company owned by the Stefani and Lazzareschi families, is a world leader in the manufacture of paper for hygienic and domestic use. Founded in 1966, the Group has subsidiaries in 12 countries – Italy, Spain, the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Romania, and the USA – with more than 6,400 employees. A member of the UN Global Compact and the international WWF Climate Savers program, the Sofidel Group considers sustainability a strategic imperative and is committed to promoting sustainable development.  For more information, visit www.sofidel.com.       

Media Contact:
Fabio Vitali
Fabio.Vitali@sofidel.com 
www.sofidel.com

Erin Bigley, CFA| Chief Responsibility Officer

Kent Hargis, PhD| Chief Investment Officer—Strategic Core Equities; Portfolio Manager—Global Low Carbon Strategy

David Wheeler, CFA| Portfolio Manager—Sustainable Climate Solutions; Senior Research Analyst—Sustainable Thematic Equities

Transcript

Erin Bigley: There are several different ways you can approach investing in the climate-focused space. Can you each tell me a little bit about the different styles of climate-focused investing?

Kent Hargis: One strategy is more of a core-focused approach, being more diversified across sectors, across countries, identifying high-quality companies that are at reasonable prices that are having a positive effect on climate change.

David Wheeler: A solutions approach is thinking about the challenges of climate out there. And there’s really two things. One is the need to reduce emissions, and the second is to adapt to the impacts of climate change that are already happening. So our approach is to invest in companies whose products and services are helping to address those climate challenges. And we’re seeing massive growth and investment in those areas.

Erin Bigley: You’ve both described an active investment-management approach. Can you tell me about the benefits of an active approach when focusing on climate investments?

David Wheeler: Active approach is key. Investing in companies that are thematically relevant to climate is not enough. It’s also important to invest in high-quality companies that can perform well in any environment. So when it comes to adding alpha over time and generating strong financial returns for clients, we think coupling a thematic approach with a focus on high-quality names is the best way to deliver alpha for clients.

Kent Hargis: We also think it’s important in terms of risk management. Passive approaches may have exposure to things like rising interest rates and other style exposures. And we think that an active approach would help us to mitigate some of these macro effects or the style effects to give you what you’re targeting in the portfolio that you’re choosing.

Erin Bigley: So tell me a bit about the types of companies that you’d find in some of these climate-focused portfolios.

David Wheeler: One of the biggest challenges is the need to reduce emissions. So if you think of something, let’s say airlines, and how can that business reduce those emissions, there’s one key area, and it’s renewable fuels, clean fuels. And so there’s companies that produce a sustainable aviation fuel where the emissions are about 80% lower than traditional fossil jet fuel. So companies that can produce that are going to see strong demand for that product in the years ahead, and that can lead to strong return performance for those names.

Erin Bigley: Kent, how about examples from your portfolios?

Kent Hargis: Yeah, we believe names that are in cable solutions are really an underappreciated part of investing; that they are the enablers, the backbone of the transition to renewable energy, as well as building out of the grid. And there are companies that have huge backlogs, so therefore they have strong pricing, and also aren’t forced to take speculative projects, and therefore we think will also deliver the cash flows over time as well as having this positive impact on the energy transition.

David Wheeler: Another area that’s an attractive solution to climate challenges is infrastructure. Not only is infrastructure aging, but climate change—whether it’s extreme weather, rising sea levels, water scarcity—is creating challenges, and building a more robust infrastructure is critical to addressing that. We especially like the upfront engineering, consulting and design companies; we like their business models as being very high quality, and we see demand for their services growing.

Erin Bigley: Tell me a little bit more about what comprises your style. Tell me a little bit more about the characteristics of this style.

Kent Hargis: So we think that you can build a diversified approach to a climate-focused portfolio across enablers, implementers and beneficiaries. We think key enablers would be names in analog semiconductors, which are reducing the cost of some of these electrification and transition to renewable energy.

David Wheeler: Those power semiconductors are picks and shovels that allow companies to implement more energy-efficiency practices. We see that in manufacturing, we see that in the electric grid. It’s also critical inputs for EVs and renewable energy.

Kent Hargis: And we see that coming all together with the retailers who are the beneficiaries; and really, the collaboration across the enablers, the implementers and the beneficiaries is how we’re going to reduce the carbon emissions of many of those end retailers.

Erin Bigley: How do you see climate-focused investing evolving over the next several years?

David Wheeler: There’s been a lot of focus, especially in the media, around things like renewable energy and electric vehicles. But if you think about the challenge of reducing emissions, we’re going to have to do that across a diverse set of solutions, including things like heating and cooling, manufacturing, infrastructure, agriculture. So to me, one way that it’s going to change is recognition that we’ve got to do an “all of the above” approach to address the climate challenge.

The views expressed herein do not constitute research, investment advice or trade recommendations and do not necessarily represent the views of all AB portfolio-management teams. Views are subject to change over time.

AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein (AB) is a leading global investment management firm that offers high-quality research and diversified investment services to institutional investors, individuals, and private wealth clients in major world markets. We believe corporate responsibility, responsible investing and stewardship are intertwined. To be effective stewards of our clients’ assets, we strive to invest responsibly—assessing, engaging on and integrating material issues, including environmental, social and governance (ESG), and climate change considerations in most of our actively managed strategies. We also believe that strive to hold ourselves as a firm to similar practices that we ask of issues. Our stewardship practices, investment strategy and decision-making are guided by our purpose, mission and values.

Our purpose—pursue insight that unlocks opportunity—inspires our firm to act responsibly. While opportunity means something different to each of our stakeholders; it always means considering the unique goals of each stakeholder. AB’s mission is to help our clients define and achieve their investment goals, explicitly stating what we do to unlock opportunity for our clients. We became a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2011. This began our journey to formalize our commitment to identify responsible ways to unlock opportunities for our clients through integrating material ESG factors throughout most of our actively managed equity and fixed-income client accounts, funds and strategies. AB also engages issuers where it believes the engagement is in the best financial interest of its clients.

Because we are an active manager, our differentiated insights drive our ability to deliver alpha and design innovative investment solutions. ESG and climate issues are important elements in forming insights and in presenting potential risks and opportunities that can have an effect on the performance of the companies and issuers that we invest in and the portfolios that we build.

Our values provide a framework for the behaviors and actions that deliver on our purpose and mission. Values align our actions. Each value emerges from the firm’s collective character—yet is also aspirational.

Invest in One Another means that we have a strong organizational culture where diversity is celebrated and mentorship is critical to our success. When we invest in one another, we empower our employees to reach their potential, so that they can help our clients realize theirs. This enables us to partner with clients to design and deliver improved investment outcomes.Strive for Distinctive Knowledge means that we collaboratively identify creative solutions to clients’ economic, ESG and climate- related investment challenges through our expertise in a wide range of investment disciplines, close collaboration among our investment experts and creative solutions.Speak with Courage and Conviction informs how we engage our AB colleagues and issuers. We seek to learn from other parts of our business to strengthen our own views. And we engage issuers for insight and action by sharing ideas and best practices.Act with Integrity—Always is the bedrock of our relationships and has specific meaning for our business. Unlike many other asset managers, we’re singularly focused on providing asset management and research to our clients. We don’t engage in activities that could be distracting, or create conflicts—such as investment banking, insurance writing, commercial banking or proprietary trading for our own account. We are unconflicted and fully accountable.

As of September 30, 2023, AB had $669B in assets under management, $458B of which were ESG-integrated. Additional information about AB may be found on our website, www.alliancebernstein.com.

Learn more about AB’s approach to responsibility here.

As a people-driven business, AEG recognizes the power of sports and live entertainment to influence culture.

To kick off Black History Month, on February 7, 2024, the company held a presentation, “The Business of Culture,” with renowned marketer and cultural translator, Dr. Marcus Collins that provided employees with a better understanding of how culture shapes our choices, actions, and identities in the workplace and beyond.

Hosted by its Black Equity@AEG employee network group, GV Black, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Employee Engagement teams, the inspiring session focused on the impact that cultural dynamics plays in human behaviors and gave employees insights into how businesses can create deeper and more meaningful connections with their target audiences. Throughout the talk, Collins shared stories from his career as well as provocative examples of how culture influences people’s beliefs and behaviors.

“‘The Business of Culture’ with Dr. Collins was an engaging, inspirational, and thought-provoking event,” said Matt Lawler, a member of AEG’s Black Heritage Month Planning Team. “His conversation with our employees broke down how culture drives business, and he gave us a framework for how to turn those learnings into action. He has a world class pedigree and his proven ability to create impactful culture through sports and music is a blueprint for everyone at our company.”

Dr. Marcus Collins is an award-winning marketer and cultural translator. His deep understanding of brand strategy and consumer behavior has helped him bridge the academic-practitioner gap for blue-chip brands and startups alike. He is a recipient of Advertising Age’s 40 Under 40 award and Crain’s Business’ 40 Under 40 award, and an inductee into the American Advertising Federation’s Advertising Hall of Achievement. Most recently, he was recognized by Thinkers50 with the Radar Distinguished Achievement Award for the idea most likely to shape the future of business management. To learn more about Dr. Collins, please click here.

Additional AEG Black History Month programming included a video interview series thatspotlighted Black employees, GV Black Artists to Watch, and a Parents@AEG + BE@AEG Resource Guide.

GV BLACK is a resource group at Goldenvoice created to guide the venues, festivals, and company forward in the mission to expand on racial justice work. Working hand-in-hand with Goldenvoice and Coachella, GV BLACK and a diverse group of employee allies have been leading tough conversations and guiding progressive action in our continued efforts to enhance equity and inclusion. To learn more about GV Black, please click here.

Black Equity@AEG is an employee led, self-directed group that offers opportunities to grow, learn, and network internally. Our intent is to attract a diverse employee base, to provide the inclusion of ideas and solutions, and to create opportunities for mentoring and career development.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky., February 28, 2024 /3BL/ – In a recent initiative to foster teamwork and knowledge sharing, the Jackson, Tennessee, Dixie team joined their counterparts in Bowling Green, Kentucky, for a transformative training experience.

With a shared commitment to growth and development, over 40 employees from Jackson trained with their peers, delving into topics such as innovation, equipment utilization and fundamental skills.

This collaborative endeavor not only enhanced individual capabilities but also laid the groundwork for the startup of the Jackson facility in the summer of 2024, signaling the team’s readiness for a successful launch.

Georgia-Pacific broke ground on the more than $425 million facility in September 2022 and raised the final beam in the fall of 2023. It’s the largest single investment in the city’s history.

The 900,000-square-foot facility sits on 241 acres west of Jackson. The fully air-conditioned workspace will include a printer, associated plate-forming converting assets, and other state-of-the-art manufacturing technology. Anticipated hiring for the new site will eclipse 220 by 2025.

Once operational, the state-of-the-art facility will significantly increase the supply of disposable tableware products—namely, plates and bowls—in the marketplace, while supporting the Livingware and GP Pro business segments.

“Although we have invested to expand existing sites, this is the first new Dixie® plant the company has built since 1991,” explains Fernando Gonzalez, president of the consumer business at Georgia-Pacific. “This added capacity will help us meet the needs of our customers as consumer demand for high-quality, durable paper plates and bowls continues to grow.”

Georgia-Pacific directly employs approximately 460 people and operates six facilities in Tennessee.

A team of nine Jackson employees is laying the groundwork for a successful startup in 2024. Georgia-Pacific has a long history of investing in people, and the Jackson plant will provide development for team members to allow them the opportunity to continue growing in their careers.

“Companies choose to invest in Tennessee because of our skilled workforce and unmatched business climate,” said Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. “I commend Georgia-Pacific’s commitment to creating more than 200 jobs in Jackson so that Tennesseans across the region can thrive.”

Currently, Georgia-Pacific’s economic impact contributes to 1,430 additional indirect jobs and $100 million in labor income, and the capital investment in the state has totaled more than $250 million since 2011. GP’s capital investments grow and improve our businesses which have a multiplier effect on people and the communities where we operate.

View original content here.