Australian Ethical has made three senior hires in its investment committee, additions it says will boost its leadership in ethical and environmental, social and governance (ESG) asset allocation.
Adding Sean Henaghan, Sandra McCullagh and Steve Rankine, the responsible investment and super fund manager said the new hires would strongly complement the skillsets of Australian Ethical’s existing investment committee, bringing the total to seven.
Henaghan was the current chief investment officer (CIO) of Aurora Capital and former CIO of AMP Capital multi-asset group.
McCullagh was a current non-executive director (NED) of the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC), a former NED of QSuper, and established the ESG equities research capability at Credit Suisse Australia.
Rankine was the former head of asset management at Hastings Funds Management and, prior to that, managing director of debt capital markets at Westpac Institutional Bank. He now sat on several investment committees and boards across funds management, infrastructure, and insurance.
Australian Ethical said the move supported its ongoing investment in the adviser channel to meet increasing consumer demand for values-based investing, after adviser-related flows jumped 135% from $61 million in 1H21 to $145 million in 1H22.
This investment included the launch of an adviser resource hub, extending the adviser team to provide national coverage, and a new online resource to help advisers talk about climate with clients.
John McMurdo, chief executive and MD of Australian Ethical, said: “Australians are increasingly demanding ethical investment options from their advisers, fund managers, super fund providers, and other investment professionals.
“For this reason, we have built on our 35 years’ experience as Australia’s pioneering ethical investor, by further shoring up the ethical pedigree of our investment committee and adviser offering. We hope to help more advisers take full advantage of the surge of interest in responsible and ethical investing that is accelerating flows of our funds.”
