The Nature Conservancy's History, Mission, and Conservation Efforts

This episode is part of our Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a diverse range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress. 

Ian Smith is the Director of Investments at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), where his primary responsibilities include managing due diligence, research and portfolio oversight across public equity, fixed income, and impact and diversity offerings. 

TNC is a global environmental nonprofit working to create a world where people and nature can thrive. They were founded in the US through grassroots organizing in 1951, and they've grown to become one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. 

As a formidable force in the NGO world, TNC also has a pretty big endowment and they're investing that endowment as good fiduciaries to generate market-beating returns, but they also have this broader mission to reckon with as an organization. This makes for a fascinating conversation that digs into how TNC handles balancing impact and profit, and how they think about climate investing, private investing, and investing in general. 

In this episode, we cover: 

• [2:21] An overview of TNC and its investments
• [5:59] TNC's endowment asset allocation
• [7:47] Ian's background
• [11:55] Benefits of TNC's transition from outsourced investing to in-house portfolio management
• [16:46] Diversification of TNC's endowment capital
• [19:40] The org's decarbonization strategy
• [24:29] Integrating sustainability without sacrificing market-grade returns
• [26:38] TNC's criteria for evaluation
• [28:49] Ian's assessment of the state of climate tech venture as an investible asset
• [34:34] How he views and measures impact
• [37:06] An overview of TNC's privates' portfolio
• [40:51] Ian's suggestions for balancing investible assets and grant-making
• [44:25] His thoughts on how the transition is going to pan out
• [48:09] Why this time is different than Cleantech 1.0
• [50:53] Ian's thoughts on the term 'impact investor'
• [52:04] TNC's perspective on carbon capture and the role of big oil in the transition
• [57:58] How Ian thinks about direct investing
• [1:02:58] His concerns about climate tech innovation and what he's excited about

Get connected: 

• Ian Smith X / LinkedIn
• Jason Jacobs X / LinkedIn
• MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at info@mcjcollective.com, where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on Aug 9, 2023 (Published Sept 6, 2023) 

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant