Sponsor
Chief Operations Officer and Head of Governance & Responsible Investing
Functions
Investments, Distribution, Data, Technology & Reporting, Governance & Responsible Investing
Client Type
European Asset Manager
Client Challenges
- The client was facing growing client demand and regulatory pressure for ESG. They knew that ESG should be a priority, but it wasn’t clear how they compared to peers, or what actions were needed to reach their ambition
- The client had some resources dedicated to ESG, but no momentum. They were concerned that the market was moving quicker than they were, weren’t keeping up with client expectations
- They didn’t have a stated and aligned ambition. This lack of strategy and clear ambitions meant thy didn’t have a clear goal in sight to aim for and measure themselves against
Alpha Approach
- We worked with the client to consolidate and direct their ESG efforts, as well as define an agreed ESG vision and strategy for the organisation
- We spent time across 20+ teams to understand and assess the level of ESG integration today and document ambitions across a range of functions
- Leveraging Alpha’s proprietary ESG Maturity Framework, we assessed the client’s current maturity (lagging through to market leading), considering multiple vectors across the full value chain
- Using the same framework, we set an agreed level of ambition for the organisation – this was the target for all future plans
- We developed a prioritised set of recommendations and implementation roadmap, and established a robust governance structure to support the client through delivery
Client Benefits
- A comprehensive understanding of their level of maturity through a bespoke assessment of the level of ESG integration across the business and individual investment desks. This gave them a clear comparison to market standards, as well as access to Alpha’s unique insights into market-leading peers
- Consistency across the organisation though a defined, agreed and fully bought into set of future ambition principles
- Accelerated delivery through a set of prioritised recommendations and outlined a recommended programme structure
About the Author
Charlie Liechti
Consultant, ESG SME
Charlie supports across workstreams of Alpha's ESG & Responsible Investing proposition and manages the approach to ESG Content. Since joining in 2018, Charlie has worked with Asset and Wealth Managers across a range of Target Operating Models design projects, most recently supporting an Asset Manager with an ESG health check assessment, and definition of approach to ESG and Responsible Investing, with associated roadmap. Charlie initially developed experience in sustainable investing strategy definition and ESG integration when co-founding a sustainable investment fund at University.