Liqian Ma is the global head of sustainable and impact investing research at Cambridge Associates, a privately held investment firm based in Boston. Ma immigrated to New York at age 6 with his parents, who were professional musicians in China but switched to working in restaurants, manufacturing and administration after moving to the U.S. At Cambridge, where he has worked for 12 years, Ma identifies impact investing ideas and builds custom private investment portfolios for family offices.
How did your personal and professional journey lead you to your current role in impact investing?
In many ways, impact investing is about intentionally gaining a deeper and more holistic understanding of the broader systems around us and seeking to shape those systems for the better. Growing up in a northern Chinese city, I saw that coal was used for everything from power generation to steel mills to the meals that my grandmother cooked on her coal-fired stove.
Fossil fuels led to the rapid economic development of the country and lifted many out of poverty, but I also saw firsthand the environmental degradation and the links to climate change. And my experiences in the U.S. as part of a working-class immigrant family taught me valuable lessons about the immense power of education and inclusive economic opportunities. These experiences have not only led me to the path of impact investing but also shaped my thinking on investing for both positive returns and the impact on our environment, communities and broader systems.
Can you talk about the intersection of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG); sustainability; and family offices?
I think family offices in particular appreciate the importance of building portfolios that are as resilient as possible to not just nearer-term financial risks but also systemic risks like climate change and social inequality that can impact the well-being of both current and future generations.
The concept of “intergenerational equity” ties in naturally with the practice of sustainable and impact investing because at its core, it is about preserving and growing value for future generations in a sustainable way. Family offices also tend to understand and appreciate innovation and entrepreneurship, which are at the root of many impact investing strategies, especially in private markets.
What sustainability and impact investing trends are you seeing in 2023?
Asset owners like family offices are motivated to align their capital with their values, but also with the positive solutions that the world needs to overcome its many challenges. We’ve seen the most engagement with our clients in the past few years on climate and net-zero investing, diverse-manager investing, and social and environmental equity.
By asset class, we are seeing growth in interest and engagement in public equities strategies with strong stewardship and engagement practices. We have also seen increasing adoption of diversified strategies in carbon markets, sustainable infrastructure, natural capital such as sustainable forestry and agriculture. But the most activity by family offices is probably still in venture capital and private equity, ranging from early stage climate tech, to sustainable food/agriculture private equity, to outcomes-centered health care buyouts.
Why do you think there are so few Asian-American and Pacific islander (AAPI) financial advisers and professionals advising family offices compared with the general AAPI population in the U.S., and what can be done to increase representation?
Networks matter. Coming from a racial/ethnic minority and/or lower-income background can often mean that you’re not “in the room where it happens.” I do think the AAPI investment professional community has made significant progress in the past decade in gaining more senior roles at family offices and the investment management industry at large. I think we AAPI professionals can always do more to support one another by opening up our networks, sharing best practices and lessons learned, and helping cultivate the next generation of talent.