Catalina Secreteanu to head new Sustainalytics office in Sydney

Former UKSIF Program Manager named as Head of Australia

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Sustainalytics, the environmental, social and governance (ESG) research house whose shareholders include PGGM and Triodos, has opened an office in Sydney, Australia. The key contact for the new office is Catalina Secreteanu, the firm’s new Head of Australia.

She has transferred to Sydney from London, where she was active in building Sustainalytics’ presence in the UK.

She joined Sustainalytics in 2012 from the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF) where she was Program Manager. In 2013 and 2014, she was voted best client relations/sale person for responsible investment in the Independent Research in Responsible Investment (IRRI) Survey. She’s a founding member of the ‘Next Generation’ network.

“Our Australian clients are very advanced in the way in which they incorporate ESG risks into their investment processes and in the way they hold companies accountable for their corporate governance practices,” said Sustainalytics’ CEO Michael Jantzi in a statement. He said an on the ground market presence was key to supporting current and future clients in Australia and New Zealand.The move was welcomed by Colonial First State Global Asset Management, the Australian funds house. Pablo Berrutti, Head of Responsible Investment Asia Pacific for the firm, said: “We welcome their presence in Australia and look forward to engaging with their team here in Sydney.”

Secreteanu said she looked forward to “contributing to the ESG dialogue and to working even more closely with our clients here in the months and years to come”.

Meanwhile, RobecoSAM is launching an outreach campaign in Australia to familiarise local companies with the benefits of participating in the annual Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) that feeds into the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.

The firm has mandated the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ACCSR) to lift the engagement of Australian companies through a series of events and encourage more organisations to complete the CSA when invitations go out in March. It will hold a webinar on February 24 and a panel discussion in March, hosted at La Trobe Business School and facilitated by Dr Leeora Black.