ESG Investor’s weekly round-up of new hires in the sustainable investing sector including Natixis IM, Federated Hermes, Rathbones, GRI, bfinance and Eurizon.
Natixis Investment Managers has appointed Nathalie Wallace as Global Head of Sustainable Investing, effective from 1 September. Joining from Mirova US, where she was Head of ESG Strategy and Development, Wallace will be responsible for building out the firm’s ESG commitments across its distribution network, affiliate managers and participation in industry-wide initiatives. Wallace will work with all affiliates to ensure that they become signatories to the United Nations-convened Principles for Responsible Investment by 2024, ensuring that she supports clients in their own ESG integration. She will also develop the firm’s innovative sustainable solutions. Based in Boston, Wallace will report to Joseph Pinto, Head of Distribution for Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Asia Pacific. “Having most recently worked at Mirova, our dedicated sustainable investment affiliate, Nathalie, with her deep knowledge and long industry experience, is ideally placed to lead our strategy to support clients in their journey to align their ESG beliefs with their investment goals, and to help us further our contribution to the transition to a more sustainable global economy,” said Tim Ryan, Natixis IM CEO.
Gemma Corrigan joins Federated Hermes as its new Head of Policy and Advocacy, working within the Responsibility Office to both develop and lead the implementation of the firm’s advocacy programme. Now reporting to Leon Kamhi, Head of Responsibility, Corrigan joins from the World Economic Forum (WEF) where she was Senior Economist. Corrigan has also previously worked for the UN and the United States Embassy. Drawing on her public sector experience, she will engage with external stakeholders on sustainability issues including human capital management, climate change and corporate governance. “Corrigan has a strong multidisciplinary background which covers ESG, public policy and sustainability amongst many other things. She has a wealth of experience driving complex and ambitious initiatives, all of which will be enormously valuable to us in our continued efforts to demonstrate and drive positive change within our industry. Corrigan will be a great asset to our team and we look forward to working with her,” Kamhi said.
UK investment manager Rathbones has appointed Kazuki Shaw as Junior ESG Analyst. Joining from HSBC, where he worked in a sales and trading role on the global futures desk, Shaw will support the wider team on its stewardship programmes by scaling up its voting and engagement activities. He has also previously worked on the equity portfolio trading desk for Credit Suisse in Tokyo. Andrea Marandino also recently joined the firm as ESG and Stewardship Analyst, from her prior role as Sustainable Finance and Corporate Risk Manager for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Both will report to Rathbones’ Stewardship Director, Matt Crossman. “The need for engagement is likely to increase markedly as investors rightly demand deeper commitment from wealth managers and stronger, ongoing communication and monitoring of investee companies. We are very pleased to have brought Shaw and Marandino onto the team, increasing resource and benefitting from the experience they bring – Marandino, from an NGO background, and Shaw’s knowledge of international markets,” Crossman said.
Dani Marunovic joins sustainability standards-setting body the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as Chief Financial Officer. As CFO, Marunovic will have responsibility of the operational management of the body’s secretariat, including human resources, infrastructure and legal affairs. With more than 20 years’ experience in financial leadership, she joins from her role as Director of Finance and Operations at Youth Business International. “In 2021, we are seeing unprecedented scrutiny on the impacts of organizations, with demands for comparable sustainability information higher than ever before. GRI has a crucial and growing role as the global enabler for transparency. We require astute and efficient financial management to deliver on this mission, which I believe Marunovic will provide,” said Eric Hespenheide, Chair of the GRI Board.
Independent investment consultancy bfinance has hired Sarita Gosrani as its ESG and Responsible Investment Director. Heading up the new ESG advisory unit in the firm’s London office, Gosrani will draw on more than a decade of experience in financial services, pensions and investments to continue building out the firm’s sustainability-related services and helping meet the firm’s goal of net zero by 2050 or sooner. She joins from her prior role as Head of ESG Research at XPS Pensions Group. “With more and more of the investment industry presenting claims around ESG-related capabilities and carbon emissions, there is a real need to help asset owners cut through the noise to establish and implement a clear strategy,” said Gosrani.
Eurizon, the asset management arm of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, has appointed Federica Calvetti as Head of ESG and Strategic Activism. Calvetti has previously worked in a variety of roles at Deutshce Bank, International Capital Markets Association working parties and the Task Force set up by the UK Oil and Gas Authority which tackled transparency and investor reporting. She will work alongside the Eurizon ESG and Strategic Activism team with a specific focus on ESG investments across equity and bond markets.
