This ongoing Q&A series profiles a few of the speakers we're looking forward to seeing at this year's Net Impact Conference. R. Paul Herman is the CEO and Founder of HIP Investor Ratings and will be speaking in our Finance & Investing track.
If you could spend 15 minutes with one impact hero past or present, who would it be and why?
Eleanor Roosevelt, author of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, now translated into more than 100 languages. In less than a century, she has shifted the awareness of what everyone deserves -- a healthy lifestyle, including clean water; a path to opportunity and access to education; and trust for society and individuals.
What’s one surprising stat or emerging trend anyone looking to make an impact in your field should know?
95% of all future investment by the 10 largest energy companies (Exxon, Chevron, Shell, Total, etc.) is still dedicated to fossil-fuel exploration and development; less than 5% of future investing is allocated to renewable or clean energy. That's one every investor and corporate professional should know.
What do you love about your work?
Being a HIP Investor never feels like work. Building higher-impact portfolios that invest in funds or companies that help solve problems via business, and seek both human impact and profit is very rewarding.
What's the single biggest challenge in your work?
Overcoming the embedded biases and usually incorrect conclusions that investing for good can't be profitable or lower risk, or both. After an hour and 40 slides of evidence, some people still ask, "How can I make money via sustainable investing?" It can be exhausting. It requires patience, understanding, and tenacity to reteach the fundamentals.
What's your best advice for someone who wants to create positive change through their career?
Pilot Friday! Brainstorm an idea Monday, syndicate it Tuesday, design it Wednesday, train people Thursday, and pilot it Friday. I used it in consulting at CSC Index and try it every week at HIP.
When have you found yourself breaking boundaries in your work? (Breaking boundaries is this year’s conference theme.)
Whenever doing something new, that's usually a boundary breaker. 47% of people are not excited about change. Only 10% of people are problem-solvers, according to Myers Briggs scores. So, as 1 in 10, I find myself breaking half the population's boundaries all the time.
How has being part of the Net Impact community or attending the conference in the past made a difference in your work?
Always invigorating to attend, especially when I have run out of steam talking to the elder generation in charge. Net Impact revitalizes me, provides a foundation of hope, and re-affirms that the upcoming generation of leaders and innovators will get us to a more sustainable and HIP world.
What’s your best advice for first-time conference attendees?
Introduce yourself to strangers. Ask what their goals are. Share yours. And ask provocative yet constructive questions on panels that spark new ideas and solutions -- it advances the conversation, but also lets people know who you are and what you think. Then you become a magnet.
About R. Paul Herman
R. Paul Herman is an internationally recognized expert in impact investing. He invented the “HIP = Human Impact + Profit” ratings system in 2004. HIP Ratings show that portfolios and companies can realize lower risk, enhanced returns and profit potential, and build a better world. The HIP Investor team rates and ranks more than 8,500 investments and funds globally, including 4,500-plus companies worldwide, and 4,000-plus issuances of bonds (municipals, sovereigns, and agencies). Paul is an adjunct professor teaching MBAs at Thammasat Business School in Bangkok, Thailand, and a visiting lecturer for MBAs, including the Presidio MBA Graduate School. He will be speaking at the Enlisting the All-Stars: Investment Banks & Pension Funds Driving Change panel and the Catalyzing Impact Investing Through Policy Innovation workshop at this year's conference.
