FIVE FACTS THAT MAKE AN IMPACT: Kenneth Pontarelli ’92 Shares Wisdom for Successful Career in Sustainable Investing

Kenneth A. Pontarelli ’92 (WSM/MAX) credits much of his success in business to the foundations built earning an undergraduate degree at Syracuse University, where he was a dual major in finance at the Whitman School of Management and economics at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. But his interest in sustainability stems back further to the impact on the climate and biodiversity near the coast where he grew up. Together, he has built a prestigious career in sustainability investments, looking not only for big returns but also big impact on the planet.

After graduating from Syracuse, Pontarelli began a long career in investing with Goldman Sachs, where he worked until 2017, including in the position of chief investment officer for Goldman’s West Street Energy Partners. During that time, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, and in 2012 and 2013 was named to Forbes’s Top 50 Dealmakers, a list of successful private equity executives. In 2018, he founded Mission Driven Capital Partners, a firm focused on sustainability investing, and served as chief investment officer until 2020. Pontarelli has previously served as the director of several New York Stock Exchange publicly traded corporations and is currently a director of several privately held businesses. Today, he is partner managing director at Goldman Sachs with plans to retire at year’s end.

One of his true passions is giving back to Syracuse University, where he is a member of the Board of Trustees and sits on the investment and academic affairs committees and is also a member of the Whitman Advisory Council. He and wife, Tracey, have also given generously to his alma mater, establishing the lead gifts for the Pontarelli Professorship in Environmental Sustainability at the Maxwell School and the Kenneth Pontarelli Goldman Sachs Endowed Scholarship Fund at the Whitman School. He is also the founder of the Pontarelli Speaker Series, which recently brought former United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to speak on campus.

On November 6, Pontarelli spoke with Interim Dean Alex McKelvie as part of the Whitman School’s IMPACT Executive Leadership Speaker Series, which brings in global business leaders to share their experiences and wisdom. During the discussion, Pontarelli gave five pieces of advice drawn from his own career to an audience of Whitman students with a curiosity about careers that combine business and sustainability. 

No one is going to say no to something that offers both financial and sustainable benefits.

We make investments into private companies designed to make full market rates of return, but there also has to be some measurable environmental or social benefit. We have to have returns plus impact, and that kind of work means a lot to me. Sometimes, what I find around environmental dynamics is that people think the bigger issues related to sustainability don’t really impact them, so you have to boil it down to something that hits people personally. Doing that in a commercial way is the most interesting investment opportunity of our time. You show the fundamental proposition for the customer because there is really no one who’s going to say they wouldn’t buy into something that offers a financial and sustainable benefit at the same time. They make money, and they make an impact. My hope is that Whitman, Maxwell and also SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry next door will be the nexus of this opportunity to make a difference.

Have the mindset that “no one is taking you out.”

Somebody at Goldman Sachs took a chance on me, and I told myself that I was going to make sure she never regretted that decision. The firm made an investment in me, and I always felt that I needed to pay that back by learning as much as I could and also creating a system to work on things where I wasn’t terribly strong. I wanted to be given as much work as possible — load It all on me, so I could free up those above me to handle higher value opportunities. It helps to have a dynamic where you work with really good people and good assignments. You have to take advantage of everything you get and have the mindset that “they are never taking me out.” Sure, some tasks seem monumental, but you chip away at it, and you figure out a way to do it. The Whitman School and the University were the ultimate foundation for all of this, as they taught me a lot of fundamental technical skills, as well as critical thinking and social skills.

A high functioning team beats a superstar every time.

It’s critical to have a high functioning team behind you, from the administrative assistant to the CEO. In Goldman’s culture, we put smart people on our teams with diverse points of view, and we beat ideas around. We made better decisions that way. If the team doesn’t support you as a leader you will not succeed. A high functioning team beats an individual superstar every time.

Be a fast adopter of AI, but don’t let it do the work for you.

AI is happening, and we have to work hard to keep up with the sustainable resources that it is going to require in order to benefit society. The time AI cuts out of so many basic tasks is incredible for productivity. My advice would be to go all in, particularly in how you maximize your use of technology for your own efficiency. But one caveat: If you depend on AI too much, you will lose your critical thinking skills, and that is ultimately where your value lies. So, be as fast an adopter as you can, but don’t just write a report with all the data ingested into it. Take that time you saved to really see what the results mean and add real insight into it. That’s where the real value is going to come from in using this disruptive technology.

You can do a lot, but often not at the same time.

While most of you are just starting out, I’ve had a long career to figure out how to make things work and still have balance. I’ve tried to really focus on just a couple of things at a time. When I was here at school, I admit I mostly focused on the work, as it was so important to me to prove that I deserved to be here. When I started my career, I focused on getting my sea legs and learning the job. You can do a lot, but, often, not at the same time, so you need to carefully pick your spots when you take things on. I only got really involved with Syracuse University and the Whitman School a little over 10 years ago after I got my footing in my own career and knew the timing was right. I can honestly say now that I get more enjoyment out of using my skills and experience to boost Syracuse in the area of sustainability than anything else I do.

For the full conversation with Pontarelli, visit the IMPACT Executive Leadership Speaker series page on the Whitman website.