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Market Matters is a monthly podcast from Kepler Trust Intelligence that delivers big-picture insights from leading investment specialists, exploring the opportunities, challenges, and risks shaping investors’ portfolios. This month, we are joined by Deirdre Cooper, head of sustainable equity at Ninety One. Deirdre co-manages Ninety One's Global Environment strategy, investing in companies enabling the transition to a low-carbon economy to capture the structural growth driven by decarbonisation. In this episode, Deirdre talks about her introduction to sustainable investment, why the drive towards electrification and decarbonisation has moved from West to East, and why now might be the perfect time to start looking at sustainable investments. 00:00 Introduction 01:10 Background to becoming a fund manager 02:52 Why Ninety One? 04:17 How the strength of the AI theme has surprised Deirdre 06:05 How Ninety One Global Environment provides diversification to portfolios 07:46 How artificial intelligence investments impact the climate solutions universe 09:47 Why most of the assumptions around net zero have been proven to be wrong 12:06 How emerging markets are leading on electrification and decarbonisation 14:55 Why sustainable investors should focus more on inclusion than exclusion 16:03 The risk around interest rates and debt sustainability 16:49 How Ninety One Global Environment chooses companies to invest in 18:22 The investment opportunities in the Chinese stock market 21:00 Why now is an interesting time to start looking at sustainable investments 22:42 Further information 23:02 Risk warning Please note that this podcast was recorded on 17 December 2025. Our latest market insights: https://www.trustintelligence.co.uk/investor/articles/category/strategy-investor Insights from the Ninety One Global Environment team: https://ninetyone.com/en/united-kingdom/funds-strategies/funds/global-environment-s-acc-gbp-gb00bkt89n06?tab=Literature
