A letter for investors
By Anna Murphy, Head of Community, Project Heather
Dear Investor,
I hope you are sitting comfortably. Have you got a cup of tea? Good. Take a moment — I would like to introduce you to an idea.
Imagine that you have just put a VR headset on. Suddenly, you are in a room, about to peel back the curtain from a magical window through which you will be able to see the world in its entirety. Yet this room you inhabit has had a peculiar effect on you: you suddenly know nothing of yourself or your natural abilities — not your position in society, nor even your sex, race, nationality, or individual tastes. You try looking down at your hands, but the goggles go fuzzy, leaving you somewhat confused.
A philosopher walks up to you.
“As soon as you draw the curtain, you will be randomly, fatefully dropped somewhere in the world you see in front of you, with no control over the whereabouts. All will be revealed on arrival, and you will live with the circumstances. There is one last thing. You can design the whole world you enter.”
He hands you a set of coloured pens and some paper, and leaves.
This thought experiment, commonly known as the veil of ignorance, is the culmination of a long tradition of political philosophy, the original version of which was posited by John Rawls in 1971 (1921–2002). It asks the individual to consider how they would redesign a new social contract, ensuring that all perspectives in society were taken into account.
Would you happily be randomly placed anywhere in the world we have now?
If not, what change would you like to see?
I, as part of the Project Heather team, would like to help you make that change. We are building a stock exchange for the 21st century, with the vision of a new social contract between the private sector, the planet, and people everywhere. In this new social contract, the private sector is a driving force in the creation of a more inclusive and sustainable world — one we would be less worried about in that VR situation.
The method: we are creating the first Regulated Investment Exchange to bring impact to risk and reward in capital markets, with the longer-term aim of mainstreaming best-practice impact investing throughout public markets worldwide. Impact investing until now has sat predominantly in private equity, and as a global market doubled in a year from $114 billion in assets in 2017 to $228 billion in 2018 (GIIN). Widespread and increasing studies (by the likes of GIIN, Morgan Stanley, ImpactAplha and Barclays) are citing not only market-rate returns, but financial outperformance of impact investments compared to their less caring counterparts. Project Heather is spring-boarding it into public markets.
A quick backtrack to that window: now imagine you were about to look out only to Scotland. Do you feel differently about your fateful allocation?
With Edinburgh the fourth largest financial centre in Europe, and the country as a whole offering a hub of renewable and life science research and entrepreneurship, as well as a growing tech scene, Scotland offers huge potential as an untapped market. It is a popular destination for impact-driven entrepreneurs to set up business given early-stage funding opportunities, and other support given the government’s Government’s commitment to get Scotland in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (see their National Performance Framework 2018). Independent research undertaken by Momentous Change makes a strong business case for a stock exchange in Scotland.
Meanwhile, one fifth of Scottish children grow up in food poverty. Life expectancy ranges 11 years between the affluent and the deprived areas. Unemployment is rising here.
We are based in Scotland not only to leverage its huge market potential, but also to re-establish the stock exchange in concept and reality as a locally-engaged institution which, in parallel with a global outlook, serves its local communities and generates local growth and prosperity. Before centralisation and the merger with London in 1973, Scotland had stock markets in 5 major cities. It is time to relocalise finance once more.
An an investor, you will finally have a route to access impact-driven companies addressing both local and global challenges. You can become part of the community working creatively to change the face of capital markets for the better, having impact goals and financial objectives work hand in hand. With offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, we strive to engage with you, wherever you are. It will also be a pertinent source of research, helping you stay in touch with the latest updates in impact investing, its measurement and management, and its growth and effect in Scotland.
I urge for you to question the world you would design behind the veil of ignorance, and to help us to make it happen.
Please reach out to express your interest or ask questions: I am here to help!
Kind regards,
Anna
Head of Community at Project Heather
Are you interested in joining Project Heather? Sign up at http://www.projectheather.scot or email contact@projectheather.scot
