Two years have passed since SWEN Capital Partners became a Mission-driven company. Since then, one question keeps coming up: what does this really change? To answer it, Jérôme Delmas, CEO of SWEN Capital Partners, and Giulia Lecarrié, Head of Engagement, in charge of steering the Mission, look back together on these two years of transformation.
The answer is both simple and difficult to put into words. In a sense, it changes nothing. SWEN CP did not wait for the Mission to get engaged. Since its founding, our conviction has been the same: investment must be a lever in service of the real economy and of the great transitions. Our commitment to a more responsible approach to finance did not therefore begin with the Mission. But in reality, it changes a great deal.
Because becoming a Mission-driven company does not simply consist of formulating an ambition or displaying commitments. It means agreeing to adopt an explicit direction, written into the company’s articles of association, which binds our strategy, our decisions, and our governance over the long term.
Over time, we have observed that the Mission acts above all as a collective compass. It flows through our discussions, our trade-offs, our investment choices. In our meetings, a question arises often,almost spontaneously: is this consistent with our Mission?
A Mission does not provide all the answers. But it obliges us to ask the right questions.
This simple reflex changes a great deal of things. It pushes us to step back, to question our decisions, and to ensure that our actions remain aligned with the purpose we have collectively chosen.
Of course, these first two years have also allowed very concrete workstreams to advance. We have, for example, structured our approach to Sustainable Value Creation so as to better guide our investment decisions, launched new initiatives to raise awareness in our ecosystem about Nature-related issues — such as Utopias by SWEN — and continued deep-seated work to better meet the expectations of our internal collective.
We have also taken an important step with the creation of our endowment fund, SWEN Philanthropy, designed to support projects in service of Nature that do not always find their place within traditional investment frameworks.
But fundamentally, the essential lies elsewhere.
The Mission gives coherence and direction to all of our decisions. It links our day-to-day choices to a broader ambition and offers a shared sense of purpose for collective action. In a world marked by growing geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainties, and sometimes even a retreat in environmental ambitions, it may be tempting to adjust one’s commitments according to the cycles. The Mission acts on the contrary as an anchor. And when the world becomes more uncertain, knowing why we act becomes even more essential.
The Mission reminds us of where we want to go and why we do this work. It is not a brand signature to be adjusted according to circumstances. It is not a slogan that can be abandoned when the winds turn against us. It is a commitment that transcends individuals and economic cycles, and which binds us over the long term.
We are clear-eyed: finance will not on its own resolve the great environmental and social challenges facing our societies. But we also know that the direction of capital plays a decisive role in the transformation of the economy. Each investment decision contributes, in its own way, to shaping the economic models of tomorrow.
That is why we are convinced that our responsibility, as an investor, is to direct this capital towards projects that contribute to the adaptation of our economies and to the preservation and egeneration of living systems. Two years on, we know that the Mission does not make our choices simpler, but it helps us move forward with coherence. It pushes us to continue learning, experimenting, and progressing.
Because at its core, the Mission is not a destination. It is a path.
And we are determined to continue walking it, with our teams, our clients, our portfolio companies, and our entire ecosystem, to continue putting investment at the service of Nature!