William Johnston
27 Years at AB|39 Years of Experience
William Johnston is a Senior Research Analyst for the Sustainable Thematic Equities portfolios. He joined AB in 1998 as a research analyst, and served as the financials sector head for the International and Global Growth Research teams prior to joining the Sustainable Thematic Equities team in 2013. Johnston was previously an analyst at Fleming Investment Management, where he covered UK banks, media, property and other financials. He also worked for the Industrial Bank of Japan in London as a qualified chartered surveyor on the Property Finance team, and in the Investment Banking division, advising on UK property finance and investment. Johnston holds an MA in history from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from City, University of London. He was nominated in Institutional Investor’s Best of the Buy Side survey in 2001. Location: London
Published Work
Financial companies that help address some of the world’s most pressing socioeconomic challenges deserve attention from sustainability-focused investors.
The recent listing of Coinbase has rekindled ESG questions about the cryptocurrency boom. However, we believe concerns about the high-energy intensity of Bitcoin mining are overstated, and the technology can play a less-acknowledged but important role in promoting financial inclusion.
Cash may still be king, but cashless commerce is rapidly becoming the new king. The revolution in digitalization of commerce is already generating growth in transaction value of roughly 24 percent per year over the last three years. And the added concerns connected to the current pandemic have underscored the need and benefits of cashless commerce.