3 Systemic Stewardship Levers Every Institutional Investor Needs | Caroline Escott

3 Systemic Stewardship Levers Every Institutional Investor Needs | Caroline Escott

In this episode, Georges Dyer is joined by Caroline Escott, Head of Investment Stewardship and Co-Head of Sustainable Ownership at Railpen, the in-house manager for the UK Railways pension schemes overseeing £34 billion on behalf of over 350,000 members. Together they walk through Railpen's December 2025 case study “Systemic Stewardship: The Financially Material Imperative” produced with the Investment Integration Project (TIIP) and Sinclair Capital, distilling five years of live implementation into a framework any asset owner can learn from. What you'll learn: * How to deploy company engagement, policy influence, and collaborative initiatives as distinct levers and when each one is the right tool for the job * How to identify "systemically important" companies in your portfolio whose governance decisions create ripple effects across entire sectors * How to adapt your stewardship approach when the regulatory and political environment shifts without abandoning your financial materiality goals * Where to start if you're a smaller or mid-sized asset owner without Railpen's internal resources or scale For CIOs, trustees, and investment teams thinking about how to move from ESG integration to genuine market influence, this episode delivers a concrete, evidence-based framework built over five years of live implementation. Resources mentioned: * 📄 Systemic Stewardship: The Financially Material Imperative - Railpen, TIIP & Sinclair Capital (December 2025): https://www.railpen.comhttps://www.railpen.com/insights/reports/systemic-stewardship-the-financially-material-imperative/ [https://www.railpen.com/insights/reports/systemic-stewardship-the-financially-material-imperative/] * 🌐 Investment Integration Project (TIIP): https://www.tiiproject.com [https://www.tiiproject.com] * 🌐 Sinclair Capital: https://www.sinclairca.comhttps://www.sinclaircapital.com/ * 🎙️ Business Pants Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/2q1oewA1uEEmTjwKZfDJnp [https://open.spotify.com/show/2q1oewA1uEEmTjwKZfDJnp] * 📋 Railpen Annual Stewardship Reports: https://www.railpen.com [https://www.railpen.com] General Timestamps:   00:00  Introduction & US SIF Forum 2026 02:10  Why Every Large Investor Should Think Like a Universal Owner 06:45  The TIIP Case Study — Grounding the 3 Levers in Fiduciary Duty 12:00  Lever 1: How to Use Company Engagement for System-Wide Change 20:30  Lever 2: Why Policy Engagement Is Often More Efficient Than Company Engagement 29:15  Lever 3: How to Build Collaborative Initiatives That Actually Work 38:40  How to Adapt Your Levers When the Regulatory Environment Shifts 44:50  How Smaller Asset Owners Can Apply All 3 Levers Without Railpen's Scale 50:20  What Happens When Asset Owners Use Their Collective Sway   – The Future of Finance podcast is produced by the Intentional Endowments Network. New episodes explore how institutional capital can be deployed to build more resilient, prosperous, and sustainable financial systems. – *Disclaimer*   The information presented in this episode reflects the views and opinions of the guest and does not constitute investment, legal, or regulatory advice. The Intentional Endowments Network does not endorse any specific products, services, or organizations referenced herein.

Reframing Financial Markets Through a Systems Lens featuring Genevieve Hayman | TIIP 2026 Symposium

Researcher’s View: Reframing Financial Markets Through a Systems Lens Genevieve Hayman, Senior Researcher @ CFA Institute Research and Policy Center To deepen the analytical foundations introduced earlier in the day, Genevieve Hayman of the CFA Institute Research and Policy Center presents findings from her 2025 report (co-authored with Raymond Pang), Reframing Financial Markets as Complex Systems.   The session explores why viewing markets as dynamic, interconnected systems—rather than static, equilibrium-driven constructs—can materially improve how investors understand risk and design portfolios. Hayman introduces tools from complex systems science, including agent-based modeling and network theory, and explains how these concepts can enhance systemic risk analysis, illuminate feedback loops, and support more resilient portfolio construction.

How Investor Bias Affects Capital Allocation & Returns with Daryn Dodson of Illumen Capital

Investor bias isn't just a philosophical concern, but a measurable drag on portfolio performance.   Daryn Dodson, Founder and Managing Partner of Illumen Capital and faculty member at Stanford Graduate School of Business, joins Georges Dyer to discuss how systematic bias causes institutional allocators to pass over high-performing managers, what peer-reviewed research reveals about how this dynamic intensifies at higher performance levels, and how Illumen Capital's decade-long bias-reduction curriculum is designed to surface overlooked alpha and drive systems-level change in capital markets. Key themes covered: * How bias causes institutional allocators to leave measurable returns on the table — and why the problem compounds as manager performance increases * The architecture of Illumen Capital's fund-of-funds model: bias reduction training across three operational areas (deal sourcing, talent, and board selection) sustained over a full 10-year fund cycle * Evaluating first-time fund managers across investing, fundraising, and operations — and the structural barriers that affect managers from underrepresented backgrounds * The case for diversity in financial ecosystems: why a more representative asset management industry is a systemic performance question, not simply a political one Daryn's foundational research, conducted with Professor Jennifer Eberhardt and the Stanford SPARQ Center, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and ranks in the top 1% of papers in its publication period.   – Resources Mentioned: Illumen Capital: https://www.illumencapital.com [https://www.illumencapital.com] Research Paper — "Race Influences Professional Investors' Financial Judgments" (PNAS): https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1822052116 [https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1822052116] Impact Experience: https://www.impact-experience.com/ [https://www.impact-experience.com/] Stanford SPARQ Center https://sparq.stanford.edu [https://sparq.stanford.edu] Book: Enlightened Bottom Line by Jenna Nicholas https://www.jenna-nicholas.com/book [https://www.jenna-nicholas.com/book]   –   General Timestamps:   00:00 Introduction & US SIF Forum 2026 Announcement 02:45 Illumen Capital: Fund-of-Funds Model and Founding Thesis 07:10 Stanford SPARQ Research: How Bias Affects Allocator Decision-Making 13:20 Bias Reduction in Practice: The 3 Operational Areas 19:50 First-Time Fund Managers: Evaluating Investing, Fundraising & Operations 26:15 Why a Fund-of-Funds Structure Fits a Systemic Problem 31:40 Stanford Business School: Teaching Impact Business Models 36:55 Political Polarization, External Stressors & Investor Decision-Making 41:30 CFA Research Policy Council & Institutional Education 44:50 Impact Experience: Sustained Behavior Change Through Environment 52:10 Retro Analysis, Backcasting & the Long-Term Vision for Capital Markets   –   Daryn Dodson Bio:   Daryn Dodson is Managing Director at Illumen Capital, the world's first private equity firm dedicated to addressing bias across financial markets to unlock returns and impact.  Illumen Capital invests in the world’s top impact fund managers and applies research-based interventions in partnership with Stanford University to help fund managers to see past bias to add value.   Daryn previously led the Special Equities Program, as the Private Equity and Venture consultant to the Calvert Funds, the $45 billion pioneer of the impact investing field. Through this vehicle, Calvert maintains a portfolio of more than 40 funds on five continents, representing over 350 underlying portfolio companies across a range of themes including renewable energy, biotech, education technology and microfinance.   Daryn currently serves on the Board of Directors for Ben and Jerry’s, The National Advisory Board of Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University, and The National Theater in Washington, DC. Daryn is a lecturer in General Management at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he earned his M.B.A., after receiving an A.B. in Public Policy from Duke University.   – The Future of Finance podcast is produced by the Intentional Endowments Network. New episodes explore how institutional capital can be deployed to build more resilient, prosperous, and sustainable financial systems. –   *Disclaimer* The information presented in this episode reflects the views and opinions of the guest and does not constitute investment, legal, or regulatory advice. The Intentional Endowments Network does not endorse any specific products, services, or organizations referenced herein.

Applying Fiduciary Duties to System Level Investing | Maurits Dolmans, TIIP 2026 Symposium

Fiduciary Duty in Focus Applying Fiduciary Duties to System-level Investing   Tools and dashboards are only actionable if they are grounded in fiduciary clarity. Maurits Dolman (Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, speaking in his own capacity) and George Suttles (Commonfund Institute) examine how fiduciary duty—properly understood—requires investors to consider risks and responsibilities that arise at the level of the financial system itself. Drawing on trust and pension law and comparative fiduciary practice, they argue that prudence today must account for foreseeable, material systemic risks such as climate change, inequality, and financial instability. The session makes the case that system-level investing is not a departure from fiduciary duty, but it’s necessary evolution in an era where long-term portfolio performance depends on system resilience.   Discussants: Maurits Dolmans, Senior Counsel @ Clearly Gottlieb George Suttles, Executive Director @ Commonfund Institute

Amy Jaffe on Energy Risk, Climate Justice & What Institutional Investors Need Now

Amy Jaffe, Director of the Energy, Climate Justice & Sustainability Lab at NYU, joins Georges Dyer for a rigorous, wide-ranging conversation on how institutional investors need to be thinking about energy risk, climate justice, and long-term capital allocation right now. As one of the most respected voices at the intersection of energy markets, sustainability, and institutional finance, Jaffe brings analytical precision and on-the-ground perspective to questions that every CIO, endowment leader, and asset manager navigating the energy transition needs to engage with seriously. -- Key themes explored in this episode: - How NYU's Energy, Climate Justice & Sustainability Lab is training the next generation of investors and practitioners to operate across traditional energy systems and sustainability frameworks simultaneously - Why sustainability must function as a genuine risk lens rather than a screening product, and what that distinction means for how institutional portfolios are actually built and managed - The state of the global energy transition in 2026: AI data center demand, LNG supply disruptions, Pakistan's rapid solar buildout, and why natural gas is structurally too slow to manage the new load curve - How adaptation finance and climate justice work are being deployed at the community level and whether capital is actually reaching the populations and geographies that need it most The Future of Finance is produced by the Intentional Endowments Network, supporting institutional investors in aligning capital with long-term value and resilience.   –   General Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction: Amy Jaffe & NYU's Energy, Climate Justice & Sustainability Lab 03:20 How Amy Jaffe's Career Spans Energy Markets, Policy & Institutional Investment 08:45 What the NYU Lab Does — and Who It Serves 16:10 Student-Corporate Partnerships: Google, National Grid & Fusion Energy Research 22:00 Sustainability as a Risk Lens vs. a Screening Product 28:30 The Opportunity Side: Affordable Housing & Climate Solutions Investing 35:00 The New NYU Sustainability Master's Program: What It Teaches and Why Now 42:15 Climate Justice, Adaptation Finance & Community-Level Work in New York City 49:00 Energy Transition Outlook: Iran, LNG Disruption & Global Renewable Momentum 58:30 AI Data Centers, Battery Storage & the Limits of Natural Gas 1:05:00 Advice for Institutional Investors Navigating the Energy Transition   –   Resources:   Podcasts The Energy Gang: https://www.woodmac.com/podcasts/energy-gang/ [https://www.woodmac.com/podcasts/energy-gang/] Books "Choke Points: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare" by Edward Fishman (2025) "Energy's Digital Future" by Amy Myers Jaffe: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/energys-digital-future/9780231196826/ [https://cup.columbia.edu/book/energys-digital-future/9780231196826/] Organizations: Solar One; https://solar1.org/ [https://solar1.org/] East New York Farms: https://www.eastnewyorkfarms.org/ [https://www.eastnewyorkfarms.org/] Research Index ND-GAIN Country Index: https://gain.nd.edu/our-work/country-index/ [https://gain.nd.edu/our-work/country-index/]   --   Disclaimer The information presented in this episode reflects the views and opinions of the guest and does not constitute investment, legal, or regulatory advice. The Intentional Endowments Network does not endorse any specific products, services, or organizations referenced herein.