Aberdeen Standard Investments Strengthens ESG Capabilities with Appointment of Bill Hartnett

13 May 2019

Aberdeen publishes on its website:

“Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has strengthened its ESG capabilities with the appointment of Bill Hartnett as an ESG Investment Director. Bill will report to Euan Stirling, Global Head of Stewardship and ESG Investment and will be based in London with a specific remit to support investment colleagues in Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific. Bill will analyse specific long-term factors involving investee companies’ environmental and social management and performance, as well as the effectiveness of governance structures.

Bill has over 20 years’ experience of responsible investment and active ownership across roles in asset management, research and asset ownership. Immediately prior to joining ASI, Bill was Head of Responsible Investment at Australian superannuation fund, Local Government Super (LGS). At LGS, Bill was responsible for ensuring that AUD 12 billion of pension assets were invested responsibly and achieving the maximum potential long-term, sustainable return.

Euan Stirling, Global Head of Stewardship and ESG Investment commented:

“We are delighted Bill has joined our ESG Investment team, which is growing in importance, as we continue to move ESG considerations further up the investment agenda. As an active investment manager, engagement continues to be at the heart of our approach and it is important for us to influence the standards of governance. With Bill’s depth of knowledge and experience, he is a strong addition to the team and will be invaluable in helping develop our expertise in Emerging Markets & Asia Pacific”

Commenting on his appointment Bill Hartnett said:

“The opportunity to apply my experience with an asset manager that has such a strong heritage and commitment to ESG is extremely motivating. I am proud to have developed sophisticated ESG-integrated strategies and an extensive and effective active ownership program in my previous roles. I now look forward to working with my ASI colleagues to offer innovative ESG strategies to our existing and prospective clients.”

The ESG team is one of the largest in the industry, with a dedicated team of around 20 professionals and more than 30 specialists across the asset class teams. We are committed to integrating ESG factors into all of our investment decisions because we believe that will ultimately generate the best long-term, risk-adjusted returns for our clients. Achieving this objective involves bespoke research, thousands of voting decisions and many engagements with companies and assets that we own directly.”

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