F&C Asset Management named the archbishop of Canterbury and five other experts to a new responsible investment advisory council, to advise the money manager on ethics and sustainability, a spokeswoman said.
The Most Rev. Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, is president of the council. He has worked with F&C before, as chairman of a previous committee that advised on the firm's responsible investment funds. Mr. Welby held the chairman's position until the end of 2014.
The other members of the council are:
- Howard Pearce, chairman of the council, who also runs consulting firm HowESG;
- Rosey Hurst, an expert in labor standards and founding director of Impactt, a supply chain consultant;
- Annemieke Wijn, who holds non-governmental organization board positions;
- Ylva Lindberg, who has experience as a member of the council on ethics for Norway's Government Pension Fund Global, Oslo; and
- Martin Smith, head of product management and part of F&C's executive management committee.
The council was created following the relaunch of the manager's responsible investment strategies last year. It will help the firm to maintain standards for the management of the ethically screened funds.
“In the 30 years since F&C launched Europe's first responsible investment fund, new ethical and sustainability issues have emerged and evolved, and investment criteria must continue to develop also,” Mr. Welby said in a news release.
F&C is owned by BMO Global Asset Management, which runs a total $272 billion of assets.