News & Events

Reclaiming Finance: Power, State Capacity and Systemic Change

Live Conference

Wednesday 17th June
at 18:30 - 20:00 BST.

Beveridge Hall 
Senate House 
University of London

About the Event

While the growing prominence of sustainable finance reflects a shift toward long-term value creation, its impact on productive investment and structural transformation remains uneven and often limited. The discussion considers how financial governance, incentive structures, and valuation practices shape what is considered investable, as well as how risk and return are distributed. It highlights how these dynamics can reproduce existing inequalities and short-termism, rather than enabling transformative, inclusive, and sustainable outcomes.

Building on this, the panel explores how states can strengthen their institutional capacities to actively shape financial markets. It focuses on the role of public policy, regulation, and public financial institutions in directing capital toward productive and sustainable outcomes. Particular attention is given to the capabilities required to design and implement mission-oriented financial strategies, moving beyond alignment in principle toward effective execution in practice.

Panelists

Fernanda Santiago

Former Adviser to the
Minister of Finance, Brazil,
and WIF Founder,
Brazilian Government

Anita Fiori

Principal Impact Investor, Soros Economic
Development Fund (SEDF)

Mariana Mazzucato

Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value, UCL, and Founding
Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP)