Mercer names new European head of responsible investment

Mercer, the global investment consultant, has named Will Oulton, former director of responsible investment at FTSE, as its new European head of responsible investment. The move comes just days after Responsible-Investor.com revealed that Oulton would be leaving his FTSE post. Oulton replaces Emma Hunt, the former London-based principal and head of responsible investment for Europe at Mercer who left to join rival advisor Towers Watson at the end of February. He will start his new role at Mercer in May. Andrew Kirton, global head of Mercer’s investment consulting business said the consultant would be expanding its global RI team: “We are strongly committed to our RI offering and Will brings an impressive wealth of knowledge and experience to the team that will enable us to further enhance our services in this area.”The consultant’s RI team currently has 14 members globally, including 5 in the UK.
At FTSE, Oulton led management and development of the group’s RI services, including the FTSE4Good, FTSE KLD, and FTSE Environmental Markets indices. He was recently appointed as vice president of the European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif).
Helga Birden, acting global head of Mercer’s RI team, said: “Will is bringing his extensive market experience and RI product knowledge to our growing list of European and global clients and is a great fit, both with Mercer’s Responsible Investment team and the wider Mercer business.”