Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has appointed Kurt Morriesen as head of investment stewardship.
Morriesen will join the business in January 2022, and will lead LGIM’s global investment stewardship team, working on behalf of clients to raise market standards and best practice, as well as hold companies to count issues such as climate change, board independent and diversity.
Previously, Morriesen was a senior adviser for impact investments and SDGs at the United Nations Development Programme, a role he held since 2018.
He has also held various impact investment and ESG strategy roles in international organisations including the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, UN-PRI, United Nations, GIZ, and the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as private firms specialised in sustainable investments in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.
Morriesen will report to Michelle Scrimgeour, CEO, and takes over the position from Sacha Sadan, who recently left LGIM in 2021 to become the Head of ESG at the Financial Conduct Authority.
Michelle Scrimgeour, CEO of LGIM said: “As a business, we remain focused on continuing to build our credentials as a responsible investor and to leading the asset management industry in addressing the environmental, governance and social challenges arising from a rapidly changing world. Our engagement activity and stewardship of our clients’ assets is a core pillar of our approach to sustainable investment.”
Through the Climate Impact Pledge report, which was first launched in 2018, LGIM has expanded its engagement to 1,000 global companies in 15 climate-critical sectors that are responsible for more than half of greenhouse-gas emissions from listed companies.
During the 2021 proxy season, LGIM subjected 130 companies to voting sanctions, with the banking, insurance, real estate and technology and telecoms sectors the most highly sanctioned through a vote.
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