Former GS Sustain head Howard joins Schroders as Head of Sustainable Research

Andrew Howard, the former head of investment bank Goldman Sachs’ GS Sustain broker research arm, has joined Schroders, the £300bn UK fund manager, as Head of Sustainable Research. The role is a new position at the manager and will report to Jessica Ground, Global Head of Stewardship.
Howard left Goldman Sachs in June 2013 after six years to start his own research company, Didas Research, which he has now left.
Ground said: “Andrew brings with him significant experience of integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into the investment process. We believe the long-term performance and sustainability of a company is shaped by the extent to which management positions strategy in order to address the structural risks and opportunities including ESG factors that affect the company’s performance over time.”
Last month, RI reported that Richard Stathers, Head of Responsible Investment at Schroders, had departed the company. Stathers had been with Schroders for 15 years. Schroders told RI that Stathers would not be directly replaced and that his role had been absorbed by the firm’s ESG team.
Howard started his career at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in 1997 as a Steel and Mining Sector Analyst, becoming Head of European Mining Research at Deutsche Bank.
Schroders has published a number of high-level climate economics papers in recent months, penned by Keith Wade, Schroders’ Chief Economist & Strategist, and his colleague Marcus Jennings.RI reported this week that the fund manager had surveyed economists at investment banks on the economic implications of climate change with the responses broadly concluding that it will likely prove inflationary: Link
The manager said: “The results supported our own analysis that climate change represents a significant threat and will likely be inflationary, while short-termism hampers mitigation efforts.”
Schroders said the survey suggested investment bank broker research had “yet to fully focus on the impact of climate change”.
Separately, Schroders has announced that its CEO, Michael Dobson, is stepping down to be succeeded by Peter Harrison, its Head of Investment.
Dobson, CEO since 2001, will become non-executive Chairman, effective 4 April. Harrison joined Schroders in 2013 after seven years as Chief Executive Officer at fund manager RWC, which is 49% owned by Schroders. During his time at RWC, Harrison oversaw the buy-in to RWC of the Hermes Focus Funds business, which at the time ran $800m for institutional clients via one of the UK’s pioneer activist corporate governance strategies. Harrison was a former Chief Investment Officer at Deutsche Asset Management and JPMorgan Asset Management.
Massimo Tosato, Executive Vice Chairman and Global Head of Distribution, will also retire as a Director of the Company and leave the firm on 31 December. Ashley Almanza, who joined the Board in 2011 as a non-executive Director and is currently Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee, has informed the board that due to his commitments as Chief Executive of G4S plc, he will not seek re-election and will leave at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 28 April. Rhian Davies will become Chairman of the fund manager’s Audit and Risk Committee.