Hermes’ Saker Nusseibeh named non-exec chairman of Carbon Tracker
LONDON, December 4 – The Carbon Tracker Initiative has today formally announced the appointment of Saker Nusseibeh, chief executive of Hermes Investment Management, as its new non-executive chairman and appointed three new non-executive directors. Nusseibeh succeeds Dr Jeremy Leggett who has held the position since 2011 and steps down to focus on his solar portfolio.
Saker Nusseibeh, said:
“Climate change is not something we can ignore. Since the Paris Agreement in 2015 we have seen some crucial climate change developments impacting the financial services industry. Central banks of the G20 countries have stated that climate change represents a systemic risk to the financial system.
“We are seeing growing interest for low-carbon investments reflected in the growth in low-carbon products, services and technology and a budding interest from institutional investors in investment solutions that not only account for climate risks but also tap into opportunities. However, we need to push this further as well as continue to work to ensure that the world does not breach the scientifically-guided objectives we have set for ourselves on climate change.”
Nusseibeh joined Hermes in June 2009 as head of investment and executive board director before becoming CEO in 2012. Under his tenure the investment manager has achieved outstanding year-on-year growth in sales, revenues and profitability, while contributing to the debate about how to improve the contribution of financial services to society. Prior to joining Hermes he was global head of equities at Fortis Investments, CIO of global equities and head of marketing for SGAM UK and managing director of Trust Company of the West. He began his career at Mercury Asset Management in 1987.
A highly regarded industry figure, known for his candour, Nusseibeh is the founder of the 300 Club, a group of leading investment professionals who seek to challenge investment orthodoxy and increase the benefits of financial services to society. He is a member of the CFA Institute’s Future of Finance Advisory Council, a member of the IIRC Council and sits on the Banking Standards Board.
Carbon Tracker also welcomed three new non-executive directors to the board: Meg Brown, director and head of sales outside of North America at Impax Asset Management, Paul Bodnar, managing director of the Rocky Mountain Institute and Emma Hunt an independent director and advisor who has held numerous positions in sustainable finance.
Mark Campanale, founder and executive director of Carbon Tracker, said:
“We were founded by investment specialists to generate insights on climate risk for the financial community. I’m delighted that we’re to be joined by new board members with climate expertise.
“Saker as our new chair, first collaborated with us in meeting the Bank of England in our formative years to discuss climate risk. Meg, Emma and Paul each bring tremendous experience and insights on climate to help us in our next phase of development, assisting investors to understand the financial challenges of the low carbon energy transition. I’d like to thank Jeremy for his steady hand, enormous support and enthusiasm for our work since our foundation.”
Bios:
Emma Hunt has has been at the forefront of developments in corporate governance, ESG, sustainability and responsible investment for over 20 years. She is an expert in strategy and leadership and the management and direction of businesses. During her career she has lead teams at asset managers, investment consultants including Willis Towers Watson, Mercer Investments, Friends Ivory & Sime and most recently co-heading Hermes EOS.
Paul Bodnar served in the Obama White House as special assistant to the president and senior director for energy and climate change at the National Security Council. Paul was a key architect of the Obama Administration’s international climate policies, including the historic U.S.-China presidential joint climate announcement of November 2014, the OECD agreement to strictly limit public financing for coal-fired power plants, and the doubling of clean energy research and development budgets by 20 major countries through the Mission Innovation initiative. He played a principal role in formulating U.S. strategy for the Paris Climate Conference.
Meg Brown has extensive experience in sustainable investing and research, having begun her career in 2002. As head of Citi’s top ranked Climate and Sustainable Investment Research team she worked with institutional and private clients across Europe on impact and responsible investment. She joined Impax in 2014 following a period as a consultant to private sector and not for profit clients in designing responsible investment strategies, including acting as the UK Liaison for the Global Impact Investing Network.
About Hermes Investment Management
We are an asset manager with a difference. We believe that, while our primary purpose is helping beneficiaries retire better by providing world class active investment management and stewardship services, our role goes further. We believe we have a duty to deliver holistic returns – outcomes for our clients that go far beyond the financial and consider the impact our decisions have on society, the environment and the wider world.
Our goal is to help people invest better, retire better and create a better society for all.
We offer clients access to a broad range of specialist, high conviction investment teams with £30.8 billion* assets under management. In Hermes EOS, we have one of the industry’s leading engagement resource, advising on £317.1 billion* of assets.
Hermes’ investment solutions include:
- Private markets – Infrastructure, private debt, private equity and real estate
- High active share equities – Asia, global emerging markets, Europe, US, global, and small and mid cap
- Credit – Absolute return, global high yield, multi strategy and global investment grade
- Multi asset – Multi asset inflation
- Stewardship – Active engagement, intelligent voting, sustainable development and advocacy
* Please note the total AUM figure includes £6.0bn of assets managed or under an advisory agreement by Hermes GPE LLP (“HGPE”), a joint venture between Hermes Fund Managers Limited (“HFM”) and GPE Partner Limited. HGPE is an independent entity and not part of the Hermes group. £76.3m of total group AUM figure represents HFM mandates under advice. Source: Hermes as at 30 September 2017 with the exception of two portfolios totalling £12.5m valued as at 30 June 2017.
