GK: Alessia, tell us about yourself. In 2015 you launched the sustainable investing efforts at a global asset manager. How did you get into that and what does that entail?

AF: I think the way it started is an important part of the story. I would love to highlight the fact that it is a team effort and the journey from a grassroots effort to a more mature stage requires organizational awareness way before sustainability commitments become part of more traditional corporate processes (“the way we do business” so to speak). The first time I heard my role referred to as the corporate “ambassador” I realized how sustainability efforts were perceived as “outside” of the traditional mandate of investors. I was embarking on an internal journey with colleagues I had interacted with for over a decade, and externally contributing to translate those efforts to meet the needs of a variety of industry organizations. Gaining and maintaining clarity of the “why” I welcomed that “call to action” continues to be a key element of what I choose to focus my attention on.

GK: Let’s dive into the topic of sustainability – that term has many angles. When it comes to sustainable investing, oftentimes referred to as ESG, they are put into the categories of environmental and social factors. Let’s start with the environment. The motivation for people to start a meditation practice is oftentimes the aim to improve their personal wellbeing (stress reduction etc.). But there are larger, systemic benefits: Mindfulness is not just about personal wellness, but it is also something that can be applied to transforming larger social issues such as the environment/sustainability/climate change.
Put differently: How can mindfulness help the earth?

AF: I am convinced that at the heart of leadership is mindfulness. I think ESG can only truly be transformed into lasting value – financial and societal value – by principled leaders. Let’s step back on Earth Day this Friday and consider purely the scientific evidence of the environmental degradation our planet has undergone over the past decade and the scenarios it is facing next. These are unsettling images of dramatic changes in the natural ecosystems we share, with a set of difficult choices we are all called to make in our daily lives. The earlier we learn to confront the uncertainty, struggles and material changes ahead, the better positioned we are to consciously make decisions that matter – for us and for others – whether they guide our spending, our retirement, our health and diet, our own education and that of our children. Practicing mindfulness in front of each one of these decisions (even if only by pausing to calm our minds, observing our own reaction, considering how that affects others) is a powerful, authentic tool that can help us walk on the path we are on, not on the path we would like to walk away from.

GK: One potential answer comes when we take a look at what got us into trouble with regards to environmental issues: primarily overconsumption. Why’s that? People overestimate the extent to which material goods will make them happy. There are evolutionary reasons for that, primarily around access to food and status symbols which increase the likelihood that we bring our genes into the next generation. Interestingly, that’s where mindfulness can come into play – a regular contemplative practice such as mindfulness meditation can provide clarity on what is important and what is not. And that’s not only on a direct level, i.e., if that new car will actually make us happy or not. It can also broaden our perspective in terms of the impact that that purchase has. On others and the environment. There has been strong "growth" in mindfulness as well as ESG. The number of people who have a meditation practice tripled in the US since 2012 and is estimated to be 200-500mn globally. 52% of companies offered meditation training in 2018. On the other hand, sustainable investing assets grew to $17.1 trillion in the US last year (that’s an increase by 6 times since 2012) and equals 1/3 of assets under professional management today. Is there a connection between the two?

AF: I believe there is a strong connection in managing investment assets responsibly and maintaining a sense of purpose. Meditation practices can help with keeping the fast paced world of investments as much as possible on the clock time of humans. Simply put, managing money with what many define a third axis in mind (risk-return-planet/society) does not come easy. It requires financial professionals to be able to recognize, analyze and balance outcomes that are historically defined in non-financial terms (say, water, hunger, endangered coral reefs) with others that are purely financial, and within their comfort zone. More importantly, it poses a direct question of accountability for both sets of factors. No wonder, in front of that question, mindfulness can greatly help embrace our role in building the solution.

GK: How do you design or create or foster a culture and behavioral system of compassion, collaboration, leading to innovation, stakeholders mindset, and profit (Internal). Related: How does mindfulness help with your decision making?

AF: When I think of “designing” something – a product, a process, an initiative – I think about who would value it and why. I think about the benefits it brings to the “users”, the beneficiaries of that product and process. I rarely think about how it may stack up against the alternatives (what as finance people we would call “competitor offerings”). I genuinely think of the reason that would get a community of “users” to find value in bringing that (product – process – initiative) to life and what would make that community contribute to the evolution of that (product – process – initiative). That becomes co-creating value in a genuine and lasting way for products – processes – initiatives that put their beneficiaries first.

GK: Let’s shift gears – what does Academia say about the connection of sustainability and mindfulness?

AF: AMRA (The American Mindfulness Research Association) and the Center for Healthy Minds at University of Wisconsin-Madison are my go to places for staying in touch with the latest research. 

AMRA specifically offers a monthly research bulletin and a podcast – their research library goes back to 1960 and covers a variety of disciplines, Their Early Career Scientist Award has been bringing to the world research from family and childhood education to occupational stress, MBSR. They are also about to launch a program on professional development focused on mindfulness research in the workplace.

GK: We are going through a challenging time with the global pandemic -- how does mindfulness help you with self-care; are there other self-care practices that you find particularly helpful?

AF: I had to stay flexible and adapt to incorporate formal and informal practices in my daily routine:

I pondered frequently the idea of thoughts, emotions being “held in awareness” and that of “living above current circumstances”, closing every practice thanking myself to find the time for reflection and self-care. Nobody is keeping score here. It’s my space to gain clarity and preserve awareness of purposeful living and the choices I make every day to sustain that.

GK: Last question: what makes you optimistic about the sustainability challenges we’re facing today?

AF: I think the biggest challenge in the field of sustainability today (whether company, policy or investor level) is staying inclusive and creating a trust environment where all voices matter and are heard. Virtually all sustainability practitioners I know have experienced first-hand the value of collaboration, transparency and opening their ears and hearts to our shared vulnerabilities. It is a community that ignites the desire to rollup one’s sleeves and keep working together, one step at the time. That is what makes me optimistic. Sustainability makes us people first, working together on a shared effort.