Credit Suisse Hires Ex-UBS Impact Investing Head
Credit Suisse continues to demonstrate commitment to impact investing and sustainable finance evidenced by the recent hire of three industry veterans for newly created roles, including a head of impact advisory based in Singapore.
James Gifford joins the bank in the newly created role to drive Credit Suisse’s «impact thought leadership and impact industry development initiatives». Gifford will report to Marisa Drew, CEO of the impact advisory and finance department, alongside a regional reporting line to Bernard Fung, APAC head of wealth planning services.
Gifford was most recently with UBS where he was last its wealth management division’s head of impact investing. He has also made numerous contributions to the field including the founding of the United Nations «Principles for Responsible Investing» (PRI) which today has 2,250 signatories representing more than $85 trillion of assets under management.
Zurich and London
The bank’s two other hires are based in its other major offices, Zurich and London.
Based in the former is Guillaume Bonnel who joins as head of sustainable and impact products reporting to Drew and Steven Bates, head of investment product management, within IS&P product & services. He was most recently with Lombard Odier where he spent six years including last as its head of impact investing since October 2016.
In July, Credit Suisse also announced the hire of Helen McDonald as its London-based U.K. head of foundations and impact advisory services, another newly created role. Prior to joining, Mcdonald was with UBS as its head of charities, foundations and social investing.
«This leadership group will also help us to accelerate our ambition to play a leading role in this sector’s development and in its ability to achieve impact at scale,» Drew said in a release, adding that Credit Suisse was «well-positioned to help our clients participate in the sustainable transition journey while ‘generating returns, sustainably’.»
