By Cambria Allen-Ratzlaff, Interim CEO, PRI
One of the great highlights of my role at the PRI is the chance to be out on the road, engaging with our signatories and wider financial system stakeholders. In recent weeks I’ve been listening to their challenges, understanding their needs and hearing how we can support their work across two very different, but ultimately interconnected, global markets.
As the first American to lead the PRI, it was a privilege to join the team on a visit to Washington, DC last week. We know there is demand for support from the PRI at a challenging time for responsible investors in the US. I’m determined that the PRI must not only understand the landscape, but that we must also deploy our voice as the trusted global body on responsible investment, wherever it’s most appropriate and effective.
Hearing bipartisan insights in Washington DC
On the visit to DC, we hosted a dinner for asset owner and investment manager signatories, with speakers sharing bipartisan insights on issues that are top-of-mind for investors and policy makers. I was struck by the clarity and conviction in the room: US market resilience, the need for predictable regulation, and a renewed focus on long‑term stewardship. Conversations on materiality, AI governance, and the future of shareholder engagement underscored how quickly the landscape is evolving and how essential it is for investors to stay aligned in their understanding and grounded in evidence.
We also met with the staff of several Congressional offices on relevant committees and on both sides of the aisle. Work on digital assets continues to dominate the agenda, though a path forward depends on consensus between the crypto and banking industries. The Housing Bill, which includes a provision limiting institutional investor ownership of single-family rental properties, passed through the Senate, but many questions on implementation remain unanswered. A bill on capital formation seems to have stalled, though members are interested in views on creative ways to support small businesses. Several offices were interested to hear about emerging practice around blended finance, especially as it pertains to financing mitigation and adaptation projects. We will continue to deepen these and other relationships across the Capitol, ensuring that policy makers have access to practical insights from the PRI and our signatories.
In Washington, DC with PRI colleagues Corey Klemmer, Sam Vandermeulen and Carly Jacobs
The need for investment in South Africa
From DC, I continued to South Africa, a highly engaged market for responsible investment, where I took part in a week of market activity in Johannesburg and Cape Town. South Africa possesses significant natural resource wealth, sophisticated financial markets, and an established policy architecture for development planning. But at the same time, it faces deep challenges relating to inequality, unemployment, infrastructure backlogs, climate vulnerability, and uneven institutional capacity.
Alongside a productive meeting of the PRI Board, kindly hosted by Board member Lebogang Mokgabudi of the Government Employees Pension Fund, we held asset owner roundtables and signatory engagement workshops with valued partners, including the UN in South Africa, UN Global Compact, Global Africa Business Initiative and the South Africa Business Initiative for Impact.
South Africa’s national context highlights the extent to which investment is central to the country’s development trajectory. We heard about the importance of driving capital – public, development and especially private – towards uses that build communities, support the people in them, and lead to positive investment returns. Policy coherence, implementation capacity, institutional quality and the available pipeline of investment-ready opportunities are all essential factors when it comes to mobilising that investment. The challenge therefore extends beyond the supply of finance to the broader conditions necessary for allocating capital effectively and at scale.
Speaking at an investor roundtable event in South Africa
Investors are thinking about resilience
Despite obvious differences between the US and South African markets, in some ways the conversations I had in both were remarkably similar. Unsurprisingly, investors’ fiduciary duty and the financial materiality of sustainability factors were the anchor for all of the discussions. Across the board, investors are thinking about resilience – in the face of physical risks, market uncertainty, a disorderly energy transition, and other systemic risks to their portfolios. When it comes to the PRI, both markets see a clear value in being part of our global community, but agree that local nuance is key, so I was pleased we could facilitate these regional convenings.
As I return home, I’m looking forward to building on the progress made on these travels. My plan is to strengthen support for signatories in the US, South Africa and globally, and to translate the insights shared with us into practical action.
PRI staff, executive and Board members
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PRI disclaimer: The PRI blog aims to contribute to the debate around topical responsible investment issues. It should not be construed as advice, nor relied upon. The blog is written by PRI staff members and occasionally guest contributors. Blog authors write in their individual capacity – posts do not necessarily represent a PRI view. The inclusion of examples or case studies does not constitute an endorsement by PRI Association or PRI signatories.
