Arabesque nabs Daniel Klier to head up S-Ray

Arabesque has named Daniel Klier, HSBC’s Global Head of Sustainable Finance, as CEO of its Frankfurt-based ESG data arm, Arabesque S-Ray. 

He will replace Andreas Feiner, who joined Arabesque in 2013 – the year it was established. He left the firm last month and told RI he will be "setting up a firm with with a focus on nature based solutions". 

Klier, who takes up his new role in June, has also been appointed to the newly-created role of President of the wider Arabesque group. 

As CEO, Klier will “lead the expansion of Arabesque S-Ray’s ESG data, advisory and research services worldwide”, the group said in a press release, adding that the appointment is one of a “series of significant new hires across Arabesque in the coming months”.

Klier joined HSBC Group in 2013 as Group Head of Strategy, and has led the global bank’s sustainability work since 2017. He has also chaired a number of influential sustainable finance groups, including the Bank of England’s Climate Risk Working Group, the UK Finance Sustainability Committee and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) Sustainable Finance working group. 

In addition to Arabesque S-Ray, the Arabesque group has two other main businesses: London-based fund manager Arabesque Asset Management and ESG quant research house Arabesque AI.

The group describes S-Ray on its website as “a quantitative data tool that analyses the sustainability performance of over 7,000 of the world’s largest listed corporations using self-learning quantitative models and data scores”.

In 2019, Arabesque S-Ray secured $20m (€17.8m) in equity financing from the German State of Hessen, Allianz X, Commerzbank’s Commerz Real and DWS.

“I am excited to be joining an incredible team that is supported by a world-class board of sustainability experts, together with some of Europe’s largest financial institutions as shareholders,” Klier said of his new role. 

Arabesque board members include the likes of Chair Georg Kell, founding Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, John Ruggie, Professor of Human Rights and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Barbara Krumsiek, former President and CEO of Calvert Investments.

The firm has also appointed Matthias Hübner, a former Partner at consultancy firm Oliver Wyman, as its Head of Germany and Financial Services Advisory.