Published by Asia Asset Management – 27th Feb 2019
JP Morgan Asset Management has hired Jennifer Wu as global head of sustainable investing, a position newly created as the company seeks to establish itself as a global leader in a growing field where environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria are incorporated into investment decisions.
Ms. Wu was previously director of sustainable investing at BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager.
In her new role, she will also lead JP Morgan Asset Management’s sustainable investing leadership team, which comprises a group of global senior leaders focused on sharing best practices for sustainable investing across asset classes, the company says in a statement on February 26.
She will be based in London.
According to Shari Schiffman, the asset management firm’s co-head of global product strategy, the company has been “integrating ESG factors across our investment teams globally and will continue to build capabilities to meet increasing client demand for sustainable investing”.
“We believe that Ms. Wu will build on our strong results and establish the company as a global leader in sustainable investing through continued ESG integration and the development of new, innovative strategies,” Ms. Schiffman says in the statement.
Christopher Willcox, JP Morgan Asset Management’s chief executive officer, adds that the company is aware of how ESG factors can “impact security valuations and enhance risk-adjusted return potential”.
“We are committed to fully integrating these principles into our portfolios… We look forward to working with Ms. Wu on a broader sustainable investing platform,” he says.
Ms. Wu worked at BlackRock for over four years, initially as head of corporate strategy for Asia Pacific in Hong Kong and then as director of sustainable investing in New York. Prior to that, she had stints at the Asian Development Bank in the Philippines and at Hong Kong-based investment group CLSA.
JP Morgan Asset Management had US$1.7 trillion of assets under management at the end of 2018.
