GAIA Montreal conference, September 2022
Tradition would have it that all GAIA firms meet annually, but Covid put paid to this for 2020 and 2021. This pause on “business as usual” made the GAIA Montreal Conference 2022 that much more special. There was a palpable sense of anticipation for what was about to unfold over the three days. The conference […]
GAIA Canadian study tour
One of the central tenants of GAIA is to learn from each other but also to embrace opportunities to discover best practice outside the GAIA community. In September 2022, nine GAIA firms had the rare opportunity to visit two non-GAIA firms and one GAIA firm. We gathered in Toronto, having travelled from as far afield […]
GAIA annual member meeting, 2022
We are excited to announce the Annual GAIA Conference will be taking place in Canada this September. Due to Covid, this is the first time we have gathered in person since the Australian/Sydney GAIA Conference in 2019 – there is a palpable sense of anticipation to continue our learning, share best practice, meet up with […]
Promises and fallacies of ESG investing
For the second quarterly gathering of 2022, Lacey Heubel, Head of Responsible Investment at Dimensional, spoke to the group on ESG investing (investing subject to environmental, social and governance factors). ESG investing offers four promises to investors: Lacey considered each of these in turn and considered the extent to which it fulfils them. The difficulty […]
Hybrid work is a trend that is here to stay
Although the most obvious effects of Covid 19 were on people’s health, no one ever guessed the consequences that a pandemic would have on the world of work. The prolonged isolation to which citizens were subjected in various parts of the world caused work from home to become widespread and people’s priorities to change, which, […]
Changing cultures
February saw the GAIA Members Conference take place virtually, continuing on from the travel constraints of COVID. Members were privileged to be joined by the Chairman of Sewells Business Transformation Specialists, Dr William Holden, who delivered his keynote speech on Changing Cultures. Dr Holden presented why having the right culture is vital to business success […]
Expected returns and asset allocation
The greatest unknown for any investor if what return they can reasonably expect to receive on their investments into the future. There are an infinite number of variables that can impact investment returns. For example, the graphic below shows the range of returns over different time periods for a portfolio adopted by many Australian investors […]
Certified B Corporations: building new companies for a new world
Josefa Monge, executive president of Sistema B in Chile, spoke to GAIA partners to explain what a purpose-driven company is. The ability to overcome traumatic situations is perhaps one of the most surprising attributes of the human being. Resilience is the word that defines this capacity of people, and the covid-19 pandemic has outlined a […]
Advice that sticks
Advice That Sticks: How to give financial advice that people will follow Dr Moira Somers is a neuropsychologist and financial change expert led a workshop for GAIA members,based on her book, ‘Advice That Sticks: How to give financial advice that people will follow’. As a leading practitioner in the field of financial psychology, a professor […]
3 ways to manage risk
GAIA members were very fortunate to hear from Professor Bob Merton in May 2021. The American economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureate, and professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, shared his thoughts on Capital Market Assumptions/Expected Returns. The presentation focused on key aspects of capital market returns, S/D and Sharpe Ratios […]