ESG Today has learned that Ulrika Hasselgren is resigning as Global Head of Sustainability & Impact Investment and Wealth Management Leadership Member at Danske Bank, effective June 30.

Hasselgren joined Danske Bank in early 2018 as Head of Responsible Investment, and developed a vision and strategic roadmap for the journey to embed sustainability into the core of Danske Bank’s investment business. During her tenure, the investment organization developed a bottom-up approach towards ESG integration and active ownership, created mDash, an analytical platform designed to help determine the materiality of ESG data collected from multiple sources, and positioned products to help enable clients integrate their own ESG preferences into their investments.

We spoke with representatives at Danske Bank, who provided the following statement:

“Ulrika Hasselgren, Global Head of Sustainability & Impact Investment, has resigned and will leave the bank at the end of June. Head of ESG Research & Analytics Erik Eliasson will lead the team interim, reporting to Head of Asset Management Atilla Olesen until a long-term solution is in place.”

The Bank also provided statements regarding the resignation from Berit Behring, Head of Wealth Management and responsible for Societal Impact & Sustainability across Danske Bank and from Ms. Hasselgren. Ms. Behring said:

“Sustainability and impact investment is a prerequisite for us in order to make the right choices for our customers, society and ultimately shareholders. Integrating ESG into our investment decisions will continue to be a key priority for us going forward, and I am sure that Erik and Atilla will do a great job continuing that work while we decide on what is next.

“I would like to thank Ulrika for her time in the bank. She has built a strong and capable team and accelerated our efforts to integrate ESG into our investment decisions. She has done a great job for the bank and I wish her all the best going forward.”

Ms. Hasselgren said:

“I am grateful for an exciting time in Danske Bank and the opportunity to develop our solid approach to sustainable investment with ESG inside processes, products, and advisory. It has been a truly rewarding journey together with great colleagues across the bank. We get positive feedback from customers and stakeholders, we have reached important milestones, and our continued journey is well on track. I have concluded that it is the right time for me to move on and explore other challenges.”