Long Finance's London Accord, an agreement among investment researchers to share environmental, social and governance research with policy-makers and the public, began in 2005. From 2005 to 2007, the initiative was focused on bringing out a joint piece of 'open source' investment research on climate change, the 2007, 780 page, London Accord report. London Accord discussions, particularly from 2007, led to the publication of Professor Michael Mainelli and Bob Giffords' book “The Road To Long Finance: A Systems View Of The Credit Scrunch” in 2009. It laid out a provocative analysis of the financial crisis in an attempt to widen the debate and to look at ways of re-thinking aspects of the financial system. Work on the book was the catalyst for establishing the Long Finance initiative more permanently and aiming to improve society’s understanding and use of finance over the long-term.
Long Finance hosts roundtable events, conferences and seminars; publishes research and thought-pieces from experts in financial services; promotes a sense of community; and runs four programmes which group different aspects of the financial system.
Long Finance has four major objectives:
The Long Finance Kitchen Cabinet (Advisory Board) tries to set out general research directions, while the Meta-Commerce programme attempts to look further forward. In addition, Long Finance relies on the online community to help everyone explore issues old and new - check out the discussion pages of the Long Finance NEWS group and contribute your thoughts!
Long Finance is managed by Z/Yen Group and is supported by Gresham College and the City of London Corporation. An expert perspective on the events, publications and activities carried out through Long Finance is provided by the Advisory Board. Further information is available on the Sponsors and Our Team pages of this website.
The four Long Finance programmes are:
There are a number of ways to be involved in Long Finance - please see our Get Involved page for more details about sponsorship, research opportunities, events and joining the online community.