BNP Paribas Asset Management has hired Mercer’s Jane Ambachtsheer as its new global head of sustainability. 

She will join the group on 27 August, BNP said in a statement this morning, and will be based in its Paris office.

Ambachtsheer will oversee the company’s approach to sustainability for the €568bn worth of assets it manages and advises on, alongside deputy head of sustainability Helena Viñes-Fiestas.

At Mercer, Ambachtsheer was a partner and chair of the consultancy giant’s responsible investment team. She first joined Mercer in 2000 as an investment analyst, and began working in responsible investment in 2003.

Ambachtsheer is an influential figure in sustainable finance, having acted as a consultant to the United Nations when it set up the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2006. The project now has more than 1,900 signatories representing $81trn (€69trn).

Jane Ambachtsheer

Jane Ambachtsheer

She is currently a trustee of the Carbon Disclosure Project and a member of both the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures and the PRI’s Academic Working Group.

Frederic Janbon, CEO of BNP Paribas Asset Management, said: “We are very proud to welcome Jane Ambachtsheer to BNP Paribas Asset Management.

“As a seasoned professional who is recognised globally as a leading influencer in responsible investment, Jane adds outstanding expertise to a central pillar of [our] strategy.

“While we continue to strengthen our commitment to long-term investing, as well as acting as a responsible firm, having Jane on board will definitely accelerate the path to achieving our goals as a leading player in sustainable finance.”