By appointing the high-profile veteran, the US investment manager is joining other large US asset managers overhauling their environmental, social and governance teams.

Franklin Templeton, part of US-listed Franklin Resources, has appointed Anne Simpson (pictured) as its first global head of sustainability.

Simpson will drive Franklin Templeton’s overall strategic direction on stewardship, sustainability and ESG investment strategy globally. She is joining the firm from the $488 billion California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), where she was managing investment director for board governance and sustainability from 2020. She joined CalPERS in 2009.

Her appointment follows similar sustainability hires at large US fund managers, including Sandy Boss, who joined BlackRock from the Bank of England as its global head of investment stewardship in 2020, and former White House official John Galloway who joined Vanguard the same year. 

Simpson will take up the role on February 22, based in San Mateo, California, and report to president and chief executive Jenny Johnson.
 
“A hire of this prominence demonstrates our commitment to being a global leader in stewardship and sustainability, which acknowledges that our choices as responsible investors have a profound effect on the world and its future,” Johnson said. “We are confident that Anne’s expertise and leadership will take our firm-wide efforts on sustainable investing to the next level.”
 
New momentum in finance    
“There is new momentum in finance, driven by policymakers in leading European markets, net-zero commitments from COP26 and broad recognition of investors’ roles in driving progress on sustainable investing, including important areas like diversity, equity and inclusion, to foster shared prosperity,” Johnson said.

Editorial note: This news service has a new program, its Wealth For Good Awards, designed to highlight the work wealth managers are doing to put ESG investing (environment, society and governance) firmly on the agenda. To find out more about the awards, click on this link. Submissions close on February 4. Winners, finalists and commended entries will be celebrated in May this year.

Simpson brings wide-ranging international expertise to her newly-created position. She was inaugural chair of Climate Action 100+ and its Asia advisory group, a global investor alliance of $60 trillion which CalPERS convened and co-founded, and led the CalPERS investment office diversity, equity and inclusion business initiative, including the founding of 3D (Diverse Director DataSource).

Simpson was named by Time Magazine as one of the 15 women leading the global fight on climate change in 2019, and one of the 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance by Barron’s (Dow Jones) the following year. The National Association of Corporate Directors ranked her as one of the year’s 100 most influential people in the boardroom from 2010 to 2021.
 
Simpson, who has served on the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s investor advisory committee, is an Oxford University graduate and was a Slater fellow at Wellesley College, Massachusetts.