“The primary duty of investors is to build capital discipline”

Mr Nick Robins is head of the climate change centre at HSBC.  In the 14th July 2013 issue of the Financial Times, he was quoted as saying:

Investors need to change the way they think and behave, argues Mr Robins. “The primary duty of investors is to build capital discipline. They need to think about how their capital stewardship will generate good long-term returns in a carbon-constrained world.”

See http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e2ccceaa-e7e2-11e2-babb-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2ZPjkZrDK

Here’s more about capital discipline, in start-ups and in a big energy sector:

• http://gigaom.com/2010/01/31/slow-capital-and-capitally-disciplined-startups/
• http://bhopu.com/2010/02/the-concept-of-capital-discipline-and-slow-capital-for-startups/
• “Capital discipline for big oil“

In short, the best, large energy investments do no better over the long term than does the S&P 500.