Ex-Robeco responsible investment head Breen joins Triodos

Erik Breen, former Head of Responsible Investing at Robeco, the Dutch asset manager, is joining the Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) team at Triodos Investment Management at the beginning of next year.

Breen left Robeco in March, a month after it was bought by Japanese financial services group ORIX.

He will start with Triodos IM, part of the Dutch ethical banking group, in January 2014 and the company says he will focus primarily on product innovation as Triodos seeks to further develop its SRI funds business.

Breen is a member of the Board of Governors and Vice Chair of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), and a member of the board and treasurer of Eumedion, the Dutch corporate governance network.Following his departure, Robeco announced that Breen’s governance functions were being taken on by Edith Siermann, the Dutch manager’s Head of Fixed Income.

Triodos Investment Management has managed SRI funds for more than 15 years using strict sustainability and financial criteria.

It says its four Triodos SRI funds grew collectively by 40% in the two years to the end of June 2013.

In total, Triodos IM, based in Zeist in the Netherlands, runs 19 investment funds in sectors including renewable energy, sustainable real estate, culture, organic farming, and microfinance in developing countries.
At the end of June 2013 the firm’s assets under management were €2.4 bn.