Former Innovest and MSCI ESG Research exec Brammer joins Standard Life

MSCI’s former Vice President of ESG Research, Marc Brammer, has moved onto a new role in the responsible investment team at Edinburgh-based asset manager Standard Life Investments.

Working under the new job title of Responsible Investment (RI) Analyst, Brammer will work alongside department head Amanda Young and fellow analyst Andrew Mason at the institution, which manages £253.2bn of clients’ money. An entry on Standard Life’s website says that he will now focus on the auto and retail sectors while also specializing in human rights and community issues.

Since his three-year stint at MSCI, Brammer has been working as a consultant and advisor on sustainability and ESG investing in Glasgow, with recent clients including Group La Française and sustainable asset management firm Inflection Point Capital Management, where he worked alongside CEO and former Innovest colleague Matthew Kiernan.

Brammer joined Innovest in 1997 as an analyst and later became Director of Research, helping establish the research firm’s models for analysing the environmental performance of equities in what was at the time a pioneering move. He also holds an MA in Political Science from the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York.

He replaces Alix Chosson, who is moving in turn to a new position at AXA Investment Managers (IM).A specialist in the energy and technology sectors, Chosson will take up the role of Energy Fundamentals Analyst within AXA’s RI team based in London and report to Matt Christensen, Global Head of RI at the French investment manager.

According to a statement from AXA, Christensen said that he was glad to strengthen his team as RI remains a key business priority for AXA IM, which now manages €333bn worth of ESG-integrated and impact investments on behalf of its clients.

Christensen added: “We are excited to have her on board and certain that her strong background in RI and impact analysis, particularly within the energy sector, will make her a valuable addition to the team. The COP 21 meeting in December last year put climate change firmly on investors’ agenda and as a result we are seeing considerations around energy become a major factor in business decision making across various jurisdictions.”

At Standard Life, Chosson was focused on integrating ESG metrics into investment decisions and impact investing, two areas she will continue to focus on at AXA. Speaking about her new role, she said she was excited to join a “pioneer in RI” and was looking forward to joining its growing RI team “at an interesting time for the industry”.

Chosson previously worked at Generali Investments, the asset management arm of Italy’s largest insurance company Assicurazioni Generali, and started her career at Amundi Asset Management as an RI and corporate governance analyst.