M&G has appointed Nadia Nikolova as the new CEO of responsAbility, its impact investment arm, as Rochus Mommartz prepares to retire after more than two decades of leadership.
Nikolova, an expert in impact credit investment, will assume the role on September 1, 2025, joining from Allianz Global Investors, where she served as head of direct lending. She succeeds Mommartz, who has led responsAbility since 2016.
Founded in 2003, responsAbility specialises in deploying capital into emerging markets with a dual focus on generating financial returns and delivering positive social and environmental outcomes. Its core themes include financial inclusion, climate finance, and sustainable food.
At Allianz Global Investors, Nikolova focused on sustainable and impact credit strategies. Since 2019, she worked on developing blended finance approaches, managed private credit investments in small-cap impact companies across Europe, and collaborated with development finance institutions. She also oversaw private credit teams across Europe and Asia.
Nikolova will report to Emmanuel Deblanc, chief investment officer of private markets at M&G Investments and chair of responsAbility. The firm sits within M&G’s private markets division, which spans private credit, equity, infrastructure and real estate strategies. responsAbility’s offering includes both bespoke mandates and fund solutions for institutional investors.
Since its acquisition by M&G in May 2022, responsAbility has received around £360 million of patient capital from M&G’s Life business, supporting strategies in Asian climate finance and sustainable food systems across Latin America and Asia.
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Deblanc commented: “Rochus has not only made a significant contribution to responsAbility, but has been a pioneer of the impact investing industry, which has gained traction in recent years. Communities and lives have been transformed across emerging markets where patient capital is carefully deployed – a legacy Rochus should be very proud of. We wish him the very best for his forthcoming retirement.
We look forward to welcoming Nadia to responsAbility – a business that is important to the growth of our private markets strategy as investors seek managers with proven track records in financial inclusion, climate finance and sustainable food. responsAbility has unrivalled expertise in these areas, which benefit M&G’s wider €90 billion private markets business, and with Nadia’s leadership and success in scaling impact strategies, we will further our ambitions to the benefit of society, the environment and investors.”
Mommartz said: “I have had the privilege to witness the emergence of the impact investment market – and to see the real difference it makes in people’s lives. It has been an exceptional honour to work alongside so many passionate colleagues at responsAbility, our investees and partners. I can only encourage investors to stay the course – it truly changes lives for people who still lack opportunity.”
Nikolova added: “I’m honoured to join responsAbility at such a pivotal time in the evolution of impact in[1]vesting. For more than two decades, responsAbility delivered measurable outcomes across financial inclusion, climate finance and sustainable food – areas I’m deeply passionate about. I’m excited to build upon this foundation by working with the team and M&G to scale innovative, high-impact strategies that aim to deliver financial performance to our clients that generate long-term measurable positive impact for our communities.”
