Mercer RI EMEA head Will Oulton leaving the firm

Will Oulton, Head of Responsible Investment (RI) for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Mercer is leaving the firm with the consultant promoting Aled Jones, who joined last year from the London Pension Fund Authority (LPFA), as his replacement. Oulton is understood to have taken a position elsewhere within responsible investing but it is not yet known where. He was not available for comment. He joined Mercer in April 2010 from FTSE, where he was director of responsible investment. Oulton is also a Board Member at the UK sustainable investment and finance association (UKSIF) and Vice President at the European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif).
Mercer named Jones, a consultant in its RI team, to the EMEA lead role with immediate effect. He joined the advisor from the £4bn (€4.6bn) LPFA in September 2011 and was a former member of the UK Local Authority Pension Fund Forum’s (LAPFF) Executive Committee and is a current board member at UKSIF. Jones has worked in RI for over a decade at companies including Innovest, the former ESG research house, and the RI teams at Jupiter Asset Management and F&C Investments.Jane Ambachtsheer, Global Head of Responsible Investment at Mercer, said: “We are delighted to name Aled as the Head of Responsible Investment for EMEA. He brings a wealth of knowledge and practical hands on experience to the role, particularly in terms of having developed and implemented approaches to strengthen responsible ownership and stewardship practices in a pension fund.”
Jones said: “Corporate governance concerns continue to challenge investors and pose investment risks that need to be monitored and managed. The broader industry debate around ‘fairer capitalism’ is also prompting trustees and other long-term investors to review expectations of their investment managers and of investee companies. As a result Mercer is seeing increased demand for advice and support on developing and implementing responsible and sustainable investment strategies.”