Global asset and wealth manager consultancy Alpha FMC has launched a dedicated responsible investment (RI) practice with a 20-strong team of ESG investment professionals.
The firm said it has a number of practitioners already working with clients to help them meet their ESG and RI needs and has completed a large number for projects in this space with asset managers, wealth managers and asset owners across the globe.
As a result, the firm has formally established a standalone practice withing the Alpha FMA business in order to expand the number of clients it serves.
Vanessa Bingle, a senior lead in the ESG & RI practice, said: “ESG & RI has gravitated from a ‘nice to have’ to a critical offering for asset managers to remain competitive. With clients demanding asset managers ‘show them’ rather than ‘tell them’ about their approach to ESG & RI firms are under increasing pressure.
“We are quickly seeing leaders emerge in this space, with the most successful moving away from organically developed, siloed approaches to a whole-of-organisation transformation with the strategic focus that a change of this magnitude requires. We hope that by applying our skillset and experience to this new area, we can support the investment industry in its transition to a more sustainable way of investing for the future.”
Alpha FMC’s projects in this space has included initiatives ranging from ‘strategy & advisory‘, ‘planning & design’, through to ‘execution’. For example, firms have used Alpha’s proprietary framework to benchmark firms against their peers, as part of the process to define a firm’s vision and strategy, through to embedding ESG across the entire value chain.
It added that it is able to assist firms in remaining compliant, establish and maintain best practice and retain a competitive edge.
See also: – PRI releases trio of step-by-step guides to asset owners integrating ESG
Euan Fraser, Alpha FMC global CEO, commented: “We are seeing ESG & Responsible Investment as a top strategic priority for so many of our clients globally, so we are delighted to announce a dedicated team that can support our clients with their response. This topic has evolved at a speed unparalleled by anything we have seen in recent times, with changing client and regulatory demand impacting every function in our clients’ businesses. Having a coordinated front-to-back response, linked to a long-term strategy, is proving challenging for many.
“Alpha has a reputation for delivering the most complicated and important programmes within the industry, and our ESG & RI team are no different, with a fantastic reputation that couples deep SME expertise with core consulting skills, to deliver practical change.”
