Eurosif names new Executive Director and Head of Research

The European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif), has appointed François Passant, a former Executive Director at Vanguard Investments Europe, as its Brussels-based Executive Director as the organisation plots an imminent shift of offices from its current Paris base. Passant’s arrival follows the departure earlier this year of Matt Christensen to become Global Head of Responsible Investment at Axa Investment Managers. Giuseppe van der Helm, Eurosif’s President, had been looking after operational responsibilities at Eurosif until the new hire. Passant is an experienced asset management professional with more than fifteen years of experience at Vanguard in Europe, part of the US mutual fund giant. His past positions cover senior responsibilities in marketing, product development, strategy and general management. More recently he was working pro bono for EuroInvestors, the European Federation of Individual Investors. Eurosif has also hired Anders Nordheim, a former corporate governanceanalyst at ISS, as its new Head of Research, another Brussels based position. Nordheim will oversee Eurosif’s research agenda and the coordination of its European Retail SRI Transparency Code, which Eurosif said would undergo major changes in the coming months. Eurosif will relocate its headquarters from Paris to Brussels in the coming months with the aim of strengthen its advocacy presence within the European Commission. Giuseppe van der Helm, said: “Eurosif has undergone major changes in the past decade and has gained wide acclaim for its thought leadership role. Mr Passant is a person who joins with deep industry knowledge, vision and strong managerial capabilities. These characteristics certainly have the potential to raise the bar for our organisation in ways that will be beneficial to all of our membership.” Eurosif members include institutional investors, financial service providers, academic institutes, research associations and NGOs representing assets totalling over €1 trillion.