AMP Capital has announced the appointment of Emily Woodland as Co-Head of Sustainable Investment, effective 12 November, marking the continued growth of its global ESG capabilities in public markets. 

Ms Woodland, to be based in Hong Kong, will lead the Sustainable Investment team alongside current team head, Sydney-based Dr Ian Woods. Ms Woodland has 18 years of investment experience in portfolio management and trading roles, primarily with UBS in London and Hong Kong.

For the past year Ms Woodland has worked for ADM Capital, where she focused on sustainable investment programs in Indonesia. She holds a Degree in Financial and Business Economics from Newcastle University (UK), a Masters degree in Corporate Environmental Governance from the University of Hong Kong and is a CFA Charterholder,

Earlier this year Karin Halliday, Senior Manager Corporate Governance with 34 years of experience with AMP Capital, moved from Sydney to London to support the globalisation of the ESG capability.

"...there is growing demand from clients to be able to invest globally in companies that are changing the world for the better, while also delivering strong long-term financial outcomes."

Additionally, from the start of 2019, Adrian Williams will fulfil the role of ESG Director, Real Estate and Listed Equities. Over the past 10 years Adrian has held senior roles within the Real Estate business of AMP Capital including Head of Corporate Responsibility and Business Platform, Head of Finance and Acting Chief Operating Officer. Outside AMP Capital, Adrian also has more than 30 years of grass roots involvement in the establishment and running of not-for-profit and social enterprises and is passionate about the importance of driving social change.

The appointment of Ms Woodland and Mr Williams increases the size of the Sustainable Investment team to six people. Dr Woods and his team have run the Australian-focused AMP Capital Sustainable Share Fund for more than a decade and supported AMP Capital’s public markets teams globally in integrating ESG into their investment processes.

David Allen, Global CIO, Equities, said: “I am delighted to welcome Emily to the team, whose passion for ESG and impact investment struck me from the first time we met. Under the joint leadership of Emily and Ian, we have great aspirations to deepen and broaden our offerings to clients, both within Australia and globally.

“Investing in companies with long-term sustainable business models is an important part of our investment approach across all asset classes. More specifically, there is growing demand from clients to be able to invest globally in companies that are changing the world for the better, while also delivering strong long-term financial outcomes. Over time, we aim to help clients meet this need.

“With Adrian also joining our Sustainable Investment team, we seek to leverage AMP Capital’s ESG experience across private and public markets, for the benefit of clients.”

AMP Capital is recognised as a global leader for its ESG and responsible investment approach, and recently received A and A+ ratings in the annual reporting and assessment of signatories to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).