People moves

Fidelity hires sustainable directors from M&G and Federated Hermes

Phil Cliff and Aaron Hay will be based in London

Fidelity International has appointed two directors based in London to its sustainable investing team.

Phil Cliff joins as director, sustainable investing, with a focus on climate integration, from M&G Investments, where he was head of climate. Cliff will develop Fidelity’s climate strategy and transition plan as well as its commitment to halve emissions across investment portfolios by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. He will also oversee the firm’s climate reporting.

Aaron Hay takes on the director, sustainable investing role with a focus on ESG integration within Fidelity’s private credit strategies and has joined from Federated Hermes where he was responsible for investee stewardship, sustainable and impact investment strategy and implementation, and co-managing a growing sustainable fixed income team.

In his new role Hay will lead the development and execution of the sustainable investing strategy for Fidelity’s private credit capabilities, also leading on the firm’s stewardship and engagement activities in private credit.

Commenting on the appointments, Jenn-Hui Tan (pictured), chief sustainability officer at Fidelity International, said: “The sustainability landscape is evolving at an ever-increasing pace. In order to ensure we are at the forefront of this change we continue to invest in talent to drive innovation and best practice at Fidelity. Phil and Aaron have extensive experience in their respective fields of knowledge and will add bench strength to the ESG team’s existing deep global expertise.”

M&G hires sustainability officer from Irish Life IM 

Kathy Ryan will embed sustainability across the business

M&G has hired a chief sustainability officer to lead the asset manager’s sustainability strategy.

Kathy Ryan will embed sustainability across the business and help to drive real-world positive change, with the asset manager acting as a responsible long-term investor.

She joins from Irish Life Investment Management (ILIM) where she was head of responsible investment. 

At ILIM, Ryan built and led a team of ESG specialists to advance ESG integration and stewardship across asset classes. 

She also improved sustainable best practice across industry and chaired the CDP Ireland Network, launched the 30% Investor Initiative Ireland on Diversity, and contributed to Ireland’s Climate Action Plan.

Ryan’s experience in sustainable investing includes having founded an ESG investment research and analytics firm, Global Green Investments, which advised clients such as the World Bank, the European Commission and the UK government.

She will join M&G on 13 November and report to Kathryn McLeland, chief financial officer.

McLeland said: “I’m delighted to welcome Kathy to M&G. The depth of her technical expertise and wealth of experience progressing sustainable investing makes her ideal to drive our sustainability strategy.”

Ryan added: “Our industry has an immense role to play in improving sustainable outcomes achieved and financing the transition to net zero. 

“Through responsible asset management, pensions, life and savings, M&G can play a significant role in developing sustainable long-term investment solutions and building on existing initiatives.”

Waverton’s Jordan heads to Charles Stanley

Will become head of responsible investing

Waverton’s senior multi-asset and sustainability analyst Paris Jordan is leaving her role to become head of responsible investing at Charles Stanley.

Jordan has worked at Waverton for almost three years, being responsible for idea generation, portfolio construction and the responsible investing assessment of more than £2bn of third-party funds. She also led ESG integration for the multi-asset team and worked across the wider investment team to integrate sustainability efforts, ESG due diligence, and impact and engagement propositions.

Prior to that she worked at Sanlam Investments UK for six years as socially responsible fund analyst.

In 2020, Jordan co-founded responsible investment network for DFMs and asset allocators Virtuvest. This initiative aims to educate, challenge and combine expertise to assist investment managers, investors and existing initiatives in achieving a more sustainable world. She is also chair of the board of Rising Girl, a charity that focuses on empowering young women through school programmes.

In her new role, reporting to Charles Stanley’s CIO Patrick Farrell, she will join the 18-strong responsible investment research team and be responsible for investing integration and analysis, which will inform investment strategy and decisions that reflect the firm’s clients’ preferences.

Farrell commented: “Paris is a highly regarded sustainable investor who brings a wealth of expertise in fund selection, portfolio construction, and sustainability analysis across various asset classes.

“I’m delighted that she is joining the team to help us further develop our research capabilities and integrate responsible investing analysis across our portfolios.”

FCA’s Manning exits to set up firm

New advisory business will support regulators and policymarkers on transformation to sustainable future

Mark Manning, technical specialist for sustainable finance and stewardship at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has announced he is leaving the regulator to set up an advisory business.

In a LinkedIn post, Manning (pictured) said he was “moving on” at the end of the year to launch New Paradigm Advisory, a business “dedicated to helping regulators, policymakers, standard-setters, NGOs and academics deliver the fundamental transformation of business and finance that we urgently need to secure a sustainable future”.

See also: – FCA dismisses fund industry ‘green bubble’ disaster talk in SDR grilling

He will continue to work with the FCA in an advisory capacity and said he will remain “actively engaged” with initiatives such as the Transition Plan Taskforce.

Manning, alongside colleagues Sacha Sadan, director of ESG, and Alicia Kedzierski, head of ESG and D&I, have been consulting the investment industry over the past few years on the best way forward for fund labelling and disclosure. The results of the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) are set to be published in Q4 of this year.

“A big shout-out to Sacha Sadan, Alicia Kedzierski and colleagues in the incredible ESG Division at the FCA. I think we’ve built something special. Thank you for the journey so far, and for supporting me in this career transition,” Manning said in his post.

He has worked at the FCA since 2018, and in the sustainable finance division since 2019. He has previously worked at Euroclear, Bank of England, IOSCO and Reserve Bank of Australia.

ESG Clarity has contacted the FCA for comment.

L&G Capital appoints Wharton as MD for distribution and partnerships

Focused on partnerships that drive financial returns with positive social and environmental outcomes

Legal & General Group’s alternative asset platform, Legal & General Capital (LGC), has hired Alex Wharton as managing director for distribution and partnerships.

Wharton is tasked with supporting the delivery of LGC’s strategic growth, enabling purpose-driven capital partners searching for private markets solutions to invest alongside LGC in alternative asset classes and partnerships that drive financial returns with positive social and environmental outcomes.

According the LGC, the rise of private markets as a major investment theme is leading to an increased demand from investors for expertise and aligned partners in this space.

“Legal & General’s dual goals to generate outstanding financial returns and significant societal impact has led it to develop unique investment capabilities that meet the societal need for investment in key sectors, including urban regeneration, digital infrastructure, clean energy, housing and venture capital,” said Laura Mason, CEO at LGC.  

“Alex’s appointment will support our ambitions to bring like-minded partners alongside us to further scale our impact.”  

Wharton has over 20 years’ sector experience, most recently as head of insurance relationships at Aviva Investors, where he successfully built out Aviva Investors’ third party insurance channel, capital raising from large scale, tier one insurers, across traditional and alternative asset classes. Previously, Wharton has held senior client facing positions at Natixis Investment Managers and the Financial Times.   

“Legal & General Capital have built an envious reputation for deploying capital at scale in long-term projects that benefit both the environment and society. This mirrors the needs of investors who are increasingly measuring performance, not just through the lens of investment return but, equally, through the delivery of impact,” said Wharton.

“I am excited to help Laura and LGC in building partnerships with investors and organisations that share this alignment of goals as we continue to scale and grow.” 

Castlefield hires co-manager of sustainable funds

Appointment is part of the further expansion of Castlefield’s investment team

Castlefield has hired a co-manager of its sustainable portfolio funds and platform models.

Callum Wells joined the employee-owned financial and investment management business on 3 October to take up the position.

In the new role Wells works alongside co-manager Simon Holman on the CFP Castlefield Sustainable Portfolio Growth fund and the CFP Castlefield Sustainable Portfolio Income fund.

Wells was most recently working in the machine learning operations sector. However before that he spent more than five years at Brown Advisory, where he held the position of associate portfolio manager.

Prior to that he worked for five years at Redmayne-Bentley as a stockbroker and compliance officer.

Wells’s appointment is part of the further expansion of Castlefield’s investment team, following James Buckley’s appointment as lead manager of the CFP Castlefield Sustainable European fund last month.

Mark Elliott, head of investment management at Castlefield, said: “As an employee-owned firm, we place great importance on maintaining an environment that not only enables the team to flourish but also helps us attract talented individuals.  

“With an impressive professional track record as a stockbroker, analyst and most recently as a portfolio manager, Callum has multi-faceted experience which will complement that of our team.”

Wells added Castlefield’s proposition, where responsible investing “is integral to everything”, makes the firm “stand out from its peers”.  

“The combination of a focus on helping clients and investors achieve their financial goals, whilst providing tangible benefits to the widest community of stakeholders is particularly appealing and I look forward to playing my part in the continued success of the Castlefield Sustainable Portfolio funds team,” he added.

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