Norges, AXA, Hermes, LGIM and Schroders appointed to Sustainability Accounting Standards Board

The Foundation governing the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) has appointed 15 new investment firms to its Investment Advisory Group.

The Group members help SASB to achieve “consistent, comparable and reliable disclosure of material and decision-useful ESG information” and participate in its ongoing standards development process to reflect investor needs.

The move follows the appointment of Madelyn Antoncic as CEO in March, at a time when SASB is looking to export its standards worldwide and grow beyond its US roots.

Following a meeting in London, SASB has announced the addition of UK ESG investors such as Hermes Investment Management, Legal & General Investment Management and Schroders – as well as Brunel Pension Partnership, one of the eight UK pooled pension funds, which will be represented by Chief Responsible Investment Officer Faith Ward.

Among the European peers are AXA Investment Management, represented by Matt Christensen, Global Head of Responsible Investment; and Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), represented by Wilhelm Mohn, Head of Sustainability Initiatives, Corporate Governance.

Carine Smith Ihenacho, NBIM’s Chief Corporate Governance Officer, said in a statement: “We urge for standardized, concrete and relevant sustainability data and we ask companies to go from words to numbers. We welcome SASB’s work in developing industry-based standards for improved sustainability reporting.”From Canada, SASB has appointed Ben Lambert, Interim Head of Sustainable Investing at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Bertrand Millot, Vice-President and Head of Investment Stewardship at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Christopher Conkey, President & CEO and CIO at Manulife Investment Management Public Markets.

From the US are Fidelity’s Nicole Connolly, Head of ESG Investing, and Pam Holding, Equity Division Co-Head; Franklin Templeton’s Julie Moret, Head of ESG; Harvard Management Company’s Michael Cappucci, Senior Vice President, Compliance and Sustainable Investing; Neuberger Berman’s President Joseph V. Amato and Head of ESG Investing Jonathan Bailey; and Putnam’s Katherine Collins, Portfolio Manager and Head of Sustainable Investing.

Elsewhere, Japan’s Nissay Asset Management will be represented by Tomoaki Fujii, Co-CIO, and Toshikazu Hayashi, Chief Analyst.

SASB’s Investment Advisory Group will now be chaired by Barbara Zvan, Chief Risk and Strategy Officer of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, replacing Chris Ailman, CIO of CalSTRS.

The Group now has 44 members, including asset managers BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard, and asset owners such as PGGM, CalPERS and the New York City Retirement System. The full member list can be found here.