E650 | Patrick Odier (Lombard Odier & Building Bridges) & Enrique, Chi Impact Capital: Three systemic plays to underwrite now

Nov 13, 2025

Patrick Odier, Chairman of Lombard Odier and Chair of Building Bridges, discusses financing systemic transitions toward sustainability. He believes circularity is key to business value, emphasizing input/output efficiency and risk reduction. Odier outlines three major investment arenas: energy, nature, and materials. He advocates for investing in hard-to-abate sectors to encourage genuine transitions. The conversation also highlights the essential role of private assets and venture capital in de-risking and unlocking future investments in sustainability.

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INSIGHT

Circularity Is A Core Investment Thesis

Circularity is a business case driven by input-output efficiency and risk reduction.
Ignoring circularity means missing investment opportunities and mismanaging major physical, legal, and reputational risks.

INSIGHT

Three Systemic Transition Arenas

Materials, energy electrification, and nature are the three big transition arenas to watch.
New technologies and industry partnerships have massively expanded investable opportunities in these areas.

ANECDOTE

Lombard Odier's Evolution To Transition Investing

Lombard Odier shifted from exclusion in the 1990s to active engagement with companies on sustainability.
They moved from best-in-class screening to favoring companies transitioning business models aligned with planetary limits.

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Welcome back to the EUVC Podcast, where we explore the frameworks moving European venture, finance, and policy.
Two weeks after Building Bridges 2025 in Geneva, Andreas Munk Holm and Enrique, Chi Impact Capital sit down with Patrick Odier — Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Lombard Odier and Chair of Building Bridges — to get practical on financing systemic transition. Odier argues for a shift from “risk and exclusion” to opportunity and system redesign, spotlighting circularity, materials, and real-economy partnerships as core alpha.

🎧 Here’s what’s covered

03:15 Why circularity = business — Input/output efficiency, risk (physical, legal, reputational), and investment edge across the real economy.
04:50 Three big transition arenas — (1) Energy & electrification; (2) Nature & land-use systems; (3) Materials (extraction, use, re-use) as a vast investment universe.
06:48 Odier’s journey — From 1990s exclusions → best-in-class → transition of business models with macro “planetary limits” as the north star.
11:57 Tools & targets — From COP21 to portfolio methodologies (e.g., temperature alignment) to favor transition leaders.
14:35 Sector stance — No blanket bans: even “hard-to-abate” sectors can be alpha if they’re truly transitioning.
17:40 Asset classes — Why private assets (esp. venture & growth/PE) are pivotal to de-risk early tech and unlock later capital at scale.
22:37 Impact vs. returns — Not either/or: aim for a risk–impact–performance triangle; measurement comparability is the current frontier.
25:32 Where to invest now — Energy systems, regenerative ag & food waste, materials (plastics, cement, steel, aluminum), reuse/refill/repair models, and recycling infrastructure.
29:21 Plastics deep-dive — Industrial partnerships, sorting, advanced recycling, refill/repair, and why “ending waste” is an investable value chain.
31:20 Geopolitics & headwinds — Non-linear transition, policy swings, but market forces (cheaper renewables, storage, infra) keep compounding.
38:06 Bottom-up pull — Next-gen leaders (e.g., IMD students) already demand sustainable models; culture is catching up with capital.
39:57 Alliance models — Working with producers (e.g., Alliance to End Plastic Waste) to validate feasibility and scale innovations.
42:17 Policy matters — Targeted regulation beats volume of rules; e.g., virgin-plastic taxes rising push manufacturers to redesign.