As a constituent of the FTSE 100 index, our client is one of Europe’s largest asset managers. Their policy of active ownership is intended to tackle systemic issues and create sustainable value for their clients.

The firm had built a reputation as a market leader in investment stewardship and engagement. This was forged over 10 years by the previous incumbent in the role. Following his departure, the need arose to find a candidate with outstanding knowledge of ESG, excellent communication skills and the gravitas to engage effectively with high profile boards.

Given the limited heritage of top-level stewardship among competitor asset managers the candidate pool was shallow. The need therefore arose to explore lateral candidate pools and conduct a genuinely global search. We conducted a forensic research process across asset managers, asset owners, consultants, supranationals, activist investors and proxy advisers. Candidates were identified in Sydney, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Toronto, Singapore, Hong Kong, Oslo, Dublin, Edinburgh and London.

This bespoke process delivered a highly diverse shortlist across gender, ethnicity and career experience. The outcome was that the client hired a high profile, senior impact investing professional with extensive experience in SDGs, ESG and sustainable investments from an international development agency.