Irish Life Investment Managers has appointed Kathy Ryan as its new head of responsible investment.
Ryan joins the fund management team at Irish Life from Aviva Investors, where she was a senior environmental, social and governance (ESG) product strategist. At Irish Life, she will have direct responsibility for “the continued strategic development and implementation” of its responsible investment strategy, including delivering responsible investment solutions for clients.
Chief executive David Harney said: “Responsible investment is of growing importance across the global asset management industry. In welcoming Kathy to the fund management team as head of responsible investment, we want to reiterate our commitment to responsible investment in Ireland and its fundamental role in our investment strategy and policies.
“Irish Life have been at the forefront of responsible investment in Ireland as one of the first Irish signatories to the UN-supported Principles of Responsible Investment. Kathy’s appointment is an important milestone for Irish Life and enables us to strengthen our commitment to the integration of ESG factors across our responsible investment management practices. She brings both additional expertise and insights to strengthen our responsible investment approach for the benefits of our clients.”
Before joining Aviva Investors, Ryan was an executive director at independent sustainability consultancy Global Green Investments, where she worked with development finance institutions, NGOs, policy makers and institutional investors on sustainable fund structuring and climate risk methodologies. She also worked with the World Bank, where she helped structure fund solutions to attract private capital for utility-scale renewable energy projects.
In Association with
Under Irish Life’s responsible investment plan, in 2019 €15 billion of discretionary managed assets were converted to strategies which explicitly integrate ESG factors into the investment process. The plan is to build on the 30% reduction in carbon intensity of these portfolios in 2019 with further reductions over the course of 2020. The company will further extend the strategy to all discretionary assets by the end of 2021.
