Responsible investing has had a fluffy reputation in the past. Back in the early noughties it was branded “ethical” investing and was an alien concept for private equity.

"When we were raising our first fund [in 2002] the sceptics said 'you are getting confused - you've got to be either philanthropy or have a ruthless focus on risk-adjusted financial return'," said Michele Giddens, co-founder of Bridges Ventures, which focuses on making investments that have positive social impact and which last week raised £125 million for its latest fund.