Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has appointed Niamh Whooley to its investment grade fixed income team in London, leveraging off her previous work a head of PIMCO’s ESG Desk.
The role is a new one, intended to focus on “how sustainability intersects with corporate fundamentals”, GSAM noted.
Whooley “will work with GSAM’s corporate research analysts to drive better identification of material ESG and sustainability-related themes across GSAM’s coverage universe,” and “foster improved engagement on ESG-related themes across GSAM’s investments.”
Before PIMCO, Whooley was a director of ESG Equity Research at Société Générale. She has participated in several industry wide ESG initiatives, including the UN Principles for Responsible Investment’s SDG Advisory Committee and Bondholder Engagement Working Group.
GSAM’s latest ESG hire follows the recent appointment of Tim Verheyden, who joined GSAM’s Quantitative Investment Strategies team as a researcher, focusing on the discovery and refinement of ESG signals for inclusion in the group’s equity strategies.
Iain Lindsay, co-head of Global Portfolio Management within the Global Fixed Income team at GSAM, said: “We are in constant dialogue with our clients on ESG and, as a firm, already coordinate our capabilities across asset classes. We believe that 2020 will be a year of definition and discovery for ESG, particularly within fixed income, and Niamh’s extensive experience will prove valuable to our ongoing efforts to clarify the relationship between sustainability, corporate performance and investment outcomes.”
