ESG Investor’s weekly round-up of moves and appointments in the sustainable investing sector, including AXA IM, ThomasLloyd, Redington, Impax AM, and EdenTree.
France-headquartered firm AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has added Mariana Villanueva and Matthieu Firiman as ESG analysts in its Responsible Investment (RI) team. Villanueva has worked for the AXA group since 2018, first as Responsible Investment Analyst then Credit Analyst. She will be working on topics including biodiversity and green and sustainability-linked bonds. Firiman joins from Aviva Investors where he was Product Manager, and has previously worked as Responsible Investment Analyst for AXA IM. He will be responsible for conducting thematic research on ESG topics. Firiman’s particular focus will be on social themes, and he will contribute to the firm’s social-related engagement projects with companies. The two new hires will be based in Paris and report to head of ESG Research Verginie Derue.
Specialist infrastructure investment firm ThomasLloyd has appointed Mike Craston as its Non-Executive Chair. Craston is currently the Chair of the Aviva Investors Nomination Committee, UK railways pension scheme Railpen’s board, and the local government pension scheme London CIV’s board. He was previously a member of Aviva Investors’ Global Executive Committee, leading client solution functions, and has held roles at Legal & General Investment Management, Schroders, Aegon Asset Management and Scottish Equitable. Michael Sieg, ThomasLloyd’s Group CEO, said: “We are privileged to have attracted someone of Mike’s undoubted reputation, calibre, and industry experience to this crucial role. Mike will bring an independent and different perspective to our board, whilst also providing constructive challenge to our executive team.”
Impax Asset Management has announced that Nana Li is joining the firm as Head of Sustainability and ESG, Asia-Pacific – a newly created role. Prior to joining, Li was Research and Project Director, China, at the Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA). She will now be responsible for leading Impax’s sustainability, stewardship, advocacy and engagement activities in the Asia-Pacific region. Li will be based at Impax AM’s Hong Kong office and will report to Lisa Beauvilain, Head of Sustainability and ESG. Beauvilain said: “Li will be a hugely valuable addition to our Sustainability & ESG team as we increase our coverage and analysis with issuers in the region. She will pay a crucial role in leading Impax’s sustainability and stewardship work in Asia-Pacific.”
Matthew Parlour has joined UK-based EdenTree Investment Management as Responsible and Sustainable Specialist. He will be working with the market and distribution teams to drive content and design across platforms and inform clients on responsible investing across target channels throughout the country. Parlour joins from Invesco Perpetual. Andy Clark, EdenTree’s CEO, said: “Responsible and sustainable investment solutions continue to receive unprecedented interest as investors and advisers increasingly recognise their importance in achieving their financial goals and those of their clients.” The firm has also welcomed three new Regional Sales Directors: James Tomlinson, Tom Culhane and Louise Slade. Tomlinson and Culhane both join from BMO Global Asset Management (BMO GAM). Tomlinson was responsible for raising the profile of and increasing flows into BMO GAM’s Responsible ESG range. At EdenTree, he will be responsible for maintaining and building the firms’ relationships with national and regional managers, wealth managers and stockbrokers. Culhane previously held roles in distribution at Impax and T. Rowe Price and will be supporting EdenTree in strengthening its business across the UK. Prior to joining, Slade was Regional Sales Director at Investec and has 20 years of business development experience at firms including UBS, HSBC and JP Morgan. Her new role will encompass leveraging client relationships and aiding EdenTree in increasing its market share by strengthening the development of the UK wholesale business within the southwest and Midlands region.
Redington, a London-based investment consultancy firm, has promoted Mohamed Fazal, Nick Lewis and Alexander White to the role of Managing Director. Fazal joined Redington in 2012 and heads the firm’s Asset Liability Management (ALM) Client Solutions team. A key focus of his new role will be delivering Redington’s advice and technical modelling tools to a wider base of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes. Lewis joined Redington from Aon Hewitt where he worked in their fiduciary management and consulting practices. As Managing Director, he will lead strategic advice for some of Redington’s largest DB clients and will also be responsible for leading Redington’s oversight of Fiduciary Manager, Implementation Manager and Outsourced Chief Investment Officer mandates. White joined Redington in 2011 and leads its ALM research team, having previously led the development and adaptation of the firm’s modelling in response to significant developments such as emissions regulation.
