SUSTAINABILITY: Outsourced investment office hires global ESG head
Partners Capital has hired Kristen Eshak Weldon as global head of ESG and impact investing, reflecting the firm’s objective to continue to build out its sustainable investment capabilities.
With more than $38 billion in assets under management, the outsourced investment office wants its portfolios to generate meaningful positive societal and environmental change while maintaining market-beating returns, said chief executive officer Arjun Raghavan.
Eshak Weldon joins from the Louis Dreyfus Company. She was also previously senior managing director and co-head of the London office for hedge fund solutions at Blackstone.
At Partners Capital, she will further integrate ESG considerations into the firm's decision making and lead targeted engagements with asset managers. She will also be responsible for building impact investment portfolios and measuring the impact those investments have on the planet and society.
MARKET OUTLOOK: Asian central banks face balancing act, says S&P Global
Many Asia-Pacific nations that undertook quantitative easing amid Covid-19 have to tread carefully going forward as economic conditions stabilise, according to a report by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
For example, Australia, which has purchased A$122.3 billion ($96.8 billion) worth of government bonds since March 2020, has pledged to add A$100 billion to the programme.
Indonesia's central bank, meanwhile, which has since 2020acquired long-term government bonds equivalent to 4.9% of the country’s GDP, said the programme would remain in place for as long as the economy needs.
While central banks will potentially start to normalise policy this year depending on the status of economic recovery, policy rates are unlikely to be hiked anytime soon, added the report.
SUSTAINABILITY: Global law firm reveals new ESG leadership
Herbert Smith Freehills has announced new leadership of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice – restructured to meet client demand and build on the firm’s 30 years of experience in this area.
The new global ESG leadership team is led by London-based energy partner Silke Goldberg, with regional leadership from responsible investment specialist Rebecca Perlman for the UK, the US and EMEA, governance expert Timothy Stutt in Australia, and business and human rights specialist Antony Crockett in Asia.
”The new structure delivers all of the firm’s expertise in this area to our clients through a dedicated team of cross disciplinary specialists,” said Goldberg. “It breaks down traditional law firm structures to better mobilise our skills across disciplines, particularly for global clients.”
Examples of the firm’s work in this space include: advising some of the world’s largest multinationals on their climate change and sustainability strategies; acting for global investors, lenders and businesses across the full range of sustainable investment and impact finance transactions; and working with global tech firms on emerging human rights challenges related to digital platforms and services.
CAPITAL MARKETS: Wall Street law firm bolsters China practice
Davis Polk has hired a leading Hong Kong capital markets lawyer as a partner in the US firm’s corporate department in Beijing.
Jason Xu is joining from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where he was deputy head of equity capital markets in China, focusing on matters such as Hong Kong IPOs, rights issuances and follow-on offerings.
He also advises on domestic and cross-border public and private M&A and regulatory issues, across industries including technology, pharmaceuticals, financials, industrials and real estate.
