Vikram Gandhi - Academic and Investor at Harvard Business School, Asha Ventures, and Growth for Good SPAC

Climate Finance Podcast

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Vikram Gandhi is a Professor at Harvard Business School, where he co-pioneered their Sustainable Investing Course, “Investing: Risk, Return & Impact.” The course won the 2021 Teaching Recognition Award for Excellence in Sustainable Finance Education from the Financial Times. He is also a Visiting Faculty member at Tsinghua University.
Vikram Gandhi is a Founding Partner at Asha Ventures, an Indian-focused impact investment fund, and a Senior Advisor to The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. He is the Chairman of the Board of the Growth for Good Acquisition Corporation, a Climate Tech SPAC, which recently merged with ZeroNox, a leader in commercial and industrial vehicle electrification.

Prior to his teaching and investing endeavors, Vikram Gandhi was a Global Investment Banking executive for 25 years with Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse. He graduated from the University of Mumbai and Harvard Business School as a Baker Scholar. He is also a Chartered Accountant.
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Topics discussed:

• Vikram’s career transition from being a Global Investment Banking Executive to teaching at Harvard Business School and initiating Climate Venture Investment firms.

• The process of an alumnus coming back to Harvard Business School as a faculty member and collaborating with Shawn Cole and George Seraphim to create an award-winning course.

• Growth Drivers of Sustainable and Impact Investing.

• Teaching Case Studies at Harvard Business School:

  • Investment Banks

    • Goldman Sachs: Making an Imprint in Impact Investing

    • Morgan Stanley: Building Long-Term Sustainability

  • Private Equity

    • The Rise Fund: TPG Bets Big on Impact

  • Public Markets

    • Generation Investment Management

    • Public Equities Impact Investing at BlackRock

    • State Street—The Development and Growth of SHE

  • Engagement and Activism

    • Engine No.1: An Impact Investing Firm Engages with ExxonMobil

    • JANA Partners: Impact through Activism?

    • CalSTRS Takes on Gun Violence

  • Corporate Finance

    • TotalEnergies CVC Investment in Hyzon Motors

    • The Ford Motor Company Green Bond

• Vikram´s Investment and Entrepreneurial Engagements

  • Asha Impact Ventures

  • Growth for Good Acquisition Corp - Sustainability SPAC

• Impact Investing Potential in India (Bullish India)

• Personal Advice to Investors, Young Professionals, and Students interested in Climate and Sustainable Finance and Investing.

Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice. The interview took place on 1st June 2023.