Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), one of Europe’s largest asset managers, announced today the appointment of Kurt Morriesen as Head of Investment Stewardship. The company stated that Morriesen will lead the global Investment Stewardship team in working on behalf of clients to hold companies to account on issues from climate change, to board independence and diversity.

The appointment comes as increasing investor interest on sustainability, climate and broader ESG issues are driving investors to become more active in promoting sustainable business practices at companies, resulting in an increasing focus on stewardship and engagement activities. Morriesen joins LGIM with more than 15 years of impact investment and ESG strategy experience in organizations such as the World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), UN-PRI, United Nations, GIZ, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).

Morriesen joins LGIM from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where he serves as Senior Adviser for Impact Investments and SDGs, responsible for providing strategic direction on ESG and SDG-aligned investments to public pension funds, state-owned companies, and governments. Morriesen is also the author of the Impact Investing Market Map (UN-PRI), the first resource available to help investors identify impact investing opportunities in the listed equity market.

LGIM recently published a report highlighting the key issues that are being voted on by investors. The analysis revealed that some of the key issues driving investor action include board, executive and staff pay, climate and Paris Agreement-alignment, human, social and animal rights, as well as lobbying, plastic, sustainable packaging and diversity.

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. We’re delighted to welcome Kurt to LGIM.  His experience with international organisations at the frontier of sustainable development will be invaluable as we continue to reinforce our market-leading investment stewardship approach and extend our already award-winning global team.”