News
Church of England disinvests from Vedanta Resources after ethical group's advice (5th February 2010)
The Church of England today followed the advice of its Ethical Investment Advisory Group and sold all of its shares in Vedanta Resources.
The advisory group, which is chaired by John Reynolds, examined claims that Vedanta had failed to consult with indigenous tribes people over its alumina refinery and a proposed bauxite mine in the Indian state of Orissa. John, who is also Chief Executive of Reynolds Partners, said: "I am a passionate advocate for engagement with companies when we have ethical concerns… After six months of engagement, we are not satisfied that Vedanta has shown, or is likely in future to show, the respect for human rights and local communities that we expect of companies in which the Church investing bodies hold shares."
John Reynolds welcomes decision to introduce supermarket ombudsman (13th January 2010)
John Reynolds, Chief Executive of Reynolds Partners and Chairman of the Church of England Ethical Investment Advisory Group, supported today’s announcement of a supermarket ombudsman. The new regulator will be created to enforce the Groceries Supply Code of Practice.
John said: "The Ethical Investment Advisory Group has long been concerned about supermarket practices around the areas of labelling, promotions, payments and contracts, all of which have caused real harm to farming livelihoods. We have raised the issues with the government, opposition and the supermarkets whose shares the Church investing bodies hold. We are delighted that the creation of an ombudsman at last seems a real possibility."
Taxing the fuel-poor to bolster subsidised companies is a waste of energy (28th September 2009)
Energy policy in the UK is as badly flawed as banking regulation proved to be. We have a regressive tax that takes hundreds of millions of pounds from customers - including the fuel-poor - and redistributes it to major companies that have already received subsidies for generating renewable energy. Equally, the policy fails to address carbon emissions.
Full article on Daily Telegraph online
John Reynolds to address Tony Blair Faith Foundation event at RSA (23rd September 2009)
John Reynolds, Chief Executive of Reynolds Partners and Chairman of the Church of England Ethical Investment Advisory Group, is to speak at an event organized by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation at the RSA on "faith and the marketplace".
The event, at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) on Wednesday September 30, is entitled, "New Perspectives on Faith and Development: Faith in the Marketplace?"
The Tony Blair Faith Foundation is organizing the event with World Vision, the Department for International Development, Oxfam and Islamic Relief.
The speakers scheduled to appear besides John are Ken Costa, Tariq Ramadan, Steve Chalke, and Reverend Giles Fraser.
The event is aimed at considering whether the global economic system has shown in recent months that it suffers from a lack of values.
The speakers will discuss whether the solution to reforming both the economic system and financial markets can be found, not just with economists, but within the teachings of faith traditions. What are the long-term impacts of the financial crisis on international development? And what role, if any, do faith communities have for putting the world’s poorest and most vulnerable back on the agenda?
Reynolds Partners appoints Stuart Macfarlane as Head of Structured Finance (15th September 2009)
Reynolds Partners has appointed Stuart Macfarlane, formerly of Deutsche Bank, to lead its new structured-finance section - with immediate effect.
Stuart joined Bankers Trust in 1999 to set up the Structured Transactions Group presence in Asia based in Japan. He began working for Deutsche Bank after it took over Bankers Trust in 1999, when his group merged into the Structured Capital Markets business of Deutsche. In 2001, Stuart returned to London and became Chief Operating Officer of the Structured Capital Markets business. He negotiated and executed structured-finance transactions in Asia, Europe, North America and in the UK across all asset classes, ranging from EUR50 million to more than EUR3 billion.
John Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer of Reynolds Partners, said: "Reynolds Partners is positioning itself to act as a source of high added-value ideas and transaction execution expertise to our clients. The addition of Stuart extends our expertise into structured tax, bringing further value to existing and new clients."
Stuart Macfarlane said: "We will be offering tailored tax advice as an integral part of the existing advisory work mandated to Reynolds, as well as offering bespoke structured financing and investment transactions to third-party investors."
The Association of British Insurers, advised by Reynolds Partners, has published its response to the DfT consultation on UK airports
Download consultation response (PDF)
Reynolds Partners appoints Tim Hammond as Head of Transport (5th May 2009)
Reynolds Partners has appointed Tim Hammond, former Head of Investments & Joint Ventures at British Airways, to lead its new transport section - with immediate effect.
Tim worked as an investment banker for 12 years, mainly at N M Rothschild & Sons and Merrill Lynch, including two years as Director at Merrill in New York. At BA between 2001 and 2007, he was responsible for all of its M&A and investment activity, completing several major transactions and restructurings such as the sales of its German subsidiary, DBA, and of BA Connect.
In 2007, Tim became Senior Vice-President at General Electric Company and Head of Europe for its airport division. There, he was responsible for strategy and execution of GE’s new business ventures, leading the teams bidding on Midway Airport in Chicago and Belfast City Airport.
John Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer of Reynolds Partners, said: "Tim's expertise in the transport sector is an excellent fit with our existing expertise in other areas of infrastructure."
Tim Hammond said: "We believe that genuine independent expertise of a sector is a crucial advantage in serving our clients."
Reynolds Partners appoints M. Douglas Dunn as Senior Adviser (2nd April 2009)
Independent investment bank Reynolds Partners has appointed Doug Dunn, a former Managing Director at Lehman Brothers, as a Senior Adviser - with immediate effect.
Doug was since 1985 a partner of law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, where he was also Co-Chair of the firm's global energy and power practice. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Investment Banking Division of Shearson Lehman Brothers.
He has worked on many key transatlantic acquisitions in the power sector, including the $8 billion acquisition in 2008 by Iberdrola, the Spanish energy giant, of Energy East, the American power group; he also advised on the $22 billion Iberdrola acquisition of ScottishPower in 2007. Doug has extensive experience advising utilities, private equity investors and hedge funds.
John Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer of Reynolds Partners, said: "Doug has been instrumental in some of the most significant transatlantic investments over more than a decade. His depth of experience and relationships - especially in the US - bring additional expertise which complement the recognised strengths of Reynolds Partners and will assist us in providing market-leading advice to our clients."
Doug Dunn said: "I have worked with the partners at Reynolds Partners on a number of transactions. I believe that their model of independence, combined with sector expertise, is the right combination to serve clients contemplating complex transatlantic transactions."
Reynolds Partners provides a full range of investment banking advice across M&A, restructuring, financing, strategy and regulation and has extensive specialist expertise in the power and energy sectors. The firm’s partners have been instrumental in many groundbreaking transactions in Europe and the US.
John Reynolds addresses Churches Together in Britain and Ireland on the Financial Crisis
John Reynolds, Chief Executive of independent investment bank Reynolds Partners and Chairman of the Church of England Ethical Investment Advisory Group addressed Churches Together in Britain and Ireland on 20 January 2009, on the Economic Crisis: Towards Sustainable Economics and Livelihoods. The conference brought together leading commentators on the financial situation together with policy specialists from Churches and NGOs. John presented a five point plan for ethics to become part of corporate decision making and stimulate changes in corporate behaviour.
John Reynolds to address Churches on the economic crisis
John Reynolds, Chief Executive of independent investment bank Reynolds Partners and Chairman of the Church of England Ethical Investment Advisory Group, is due to address a conference organised by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland on the Economic Crisis: Towards Sustainable Economics and Livelihoods. The conference brings together leading commentators on the financial situation together with policy specialists from Churches and NGOs. The conference will take place on 20th January 2009 at Methodist Church House in London.
John Reynolds to address inaugural Distribution Network Strategy Conference
John Reynolds is due to address the inaugural Distribution Network Strategy Conference, to be held at the Royal Automobile Club in London on 5th February 2009. He joins speakers from EA Technology, Singapore Power, EDF and CLP and will discuss the implications for network investment strategies arising from the new financial landscape.
The need for ethics in investment banking
Within investment banking and the capital markets there are both very aggressive, barely-legal trading and highly principled decision making. Short term pressures on financial performance make it difficult for managers to make long-term decisions. Ethics can be the best proxy for long-term decision making and is an approach very contrary to current process-driven compliance and regulatory regimes.
Full article on Guardian.co.uk
Church of England Publishes Ethical Investment Review
The Church of England’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group, chaired by John Reynolds, has published its annual review.
Long-Term Dangers of Index-Linked Utility Debt
INDEX-LINKED debt has become the financing instrument of choice in the leveraged acquisition of utilities. However, this type of debt can be abused by utility shareholders. Regulators need to address new financing techniques, tighten protection for customers from the risk of abuse and redress imbalances that bias against well-capitalised utility companies. New governance measures are required to protect customers.
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article (PDF)
Regulators’ reliance on credit ratings looks dangerous and out of date
ELEVEN UK utilities with around £30 billion of debt have been allowed to finance their activities based on a credit rating process that is not designed for this purpose. These utilities supply vital services to most of the UK. UK utility regulators have trusted in credit ratings for more than a decade. This was always a mis-use of ratings, but now flies in the face of increasing evidence that ratings can be dangerously wrong. Regulators have allowed increasing debt levels, at a time when the impact of extreme weather and global warming is causing severe financial shocks to utilities. The regulators’ reliance on credit ratings now looks dangerous and out of date.
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article (PDF)
Reynolds’ Partners response to Government consultation on nuclear power
Specialist investment bank Reynolds Partners has submitted a detailed response to two of the key questions asked in the Government’s nuclear consultation paper. The main conclusions of this response are that:
- There should be a common approach to incentivising and assessing equivalent forms of generation, rather than a bifocated approach which views nuclear power on one basis and other forms of emission-free generation on another.
- The Government has calculated that the NPV of carbon saved by 10GW of new nuclear capacity would be £15 billion. Although we agree that the value of the carbon saved could be significant, we do not agree with the calculation of £15 billion of net present value. In aggregate, our analysis suggests that the net economic impact of new nuclear power allowing for both the value of carbon saved and the construction cost of nuclear capacity is a cost of £1.6 billion at €15 per tonne and a benefit of £589 million at €30 per tonne.
- We see no intrinsic reason why there would not be a strong market appetite to participate in funding new UK nuclear power stations, provided that Government support was committed in those areas clearly within Government prerogative. Notably this would apply to an agreed route (and cost) for end disposal of waste. If this issue is not resolved, it could lead to a residual risk of immediate and high construction costs being imposed on the new station, which could undermine the overall project economics.
Reynolds Partners supports Save the Children Festival of Trees
Specialist investment bank Reynolds Partners is sponsoring Save the Children’s major Christmas fundraising event, the Festival of Trees.
Taking place on 4 December at London's Natural History Museum and attended by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, the event features beautifully designed trees, accompanied with luxury gifts or experiences, to be auctioned during the evening. Designers such as Sophie Conran, Jamie Oliver and the students from Fifteen restaurant, and women from the Talking Beads Co-operative, Pretoria, South Africa have created fabulous bespoke trees which will be on display during the evening. The trees are accompanied by luxury gifts, children's toys or experiences and are auctioned after the dinner. The money raised will transform children's lives around the world.
More details of the Festival of Trees can be found at http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/3836.htm
John Reynolds to address Institute of Asset Management
John Reynolds, Chief Executive of specialist investment bank Reynolds Partners, will give the opening address to the Institute of Asset Management on 8 November as part of its seminar on Reporting Asset Management to your Board. The Institute of Asset Management (IAM) is the independent organisation for professionals involved in the management of physical assets. Members on the IAM include many of the UK's leading utility and infrastructure companies.
John Reynolds to address 3iG, the International Inter-faith Investment Group
John Reynolds, Chief Executive of specialist investment bank Reynolds Partners, will speak at the annual conference of 3iG, the International Inter-faith Investment Group, in Paris on November 15th. John, who is Chairman of the Church of England Ethical Investment Advisory Group, will discuss about Faith Consistent Investment in his speech. The goal of 3iG's conference is to foster a multi-faith and multi-sector dialogue on the implication of faith consistent investment for sustainability-related investments. 3iG is a non-profit, multi-faith philanthropic foundation which has set itself an historic task of shifting the attitudes and investment policies of the major world religions from the tradition of a via negativa - not investing in certain arenas because of strongly held views about, for example, alcohol, armaments or interest income - to a via positiva - selecting arenas to invest in because the activities thus supported are consistent with faith values and belief.
Publication of Report on Supermarkets and UK Farming
The Church Of England Ethical Investment Advisory Group, Chaired by John Reynolds Chief Executive of Reynolds Partners, has today published a major report "Fairtrade begins at home: Supermarkets and the effect on British farming livelihoods" looking at the impact of supermarket buying practices on the UK farming sector.
John Reynolds said: “Farmers are asking for no more than a fair price for a fair product and for the benefits and costs of in-store and special promotions to be fairly shared by producer and retailer alike. Ministers, agencies and others should debate the worst abuses as that is beyond the brief of the current competition enquiry regime. The Supermarkets Code of Conduct is not working, and has not acted to reduce fear of reprisals for ‘speaking out’. The appointment of an independent ombudsman with arbitration and regulatory powers should be urgently considered.”
For the full press release please go to http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/pr10607.html
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