Laura Kane has joined Voya Investment Management as head of environmental, social and governance research, a new position at the firm.
Ms. Kane started her new job on Monday, said spokesman Kristopher Kagel in an email. She reports to Jim Dorment, Voya's co-head of fundamental research and head of value equity, according to a new release.
In this position, Ms. Kane is responsible for leading Voya's "ESG investment research process across all of the firm's investment platforms (equity, fixed income, multiasset strategies)" as well as "overseeing and building out a team of ESG-focused analysts" in order to advance Voya analysts' and portfolio managers' "understanding and consideration of ESG factors into their investment processes," the firm said in the news release.
"Our objective is to systematically research and compare environmental, social and governance factors for all the companies in which we invest and consider how these factors may affect a company's long-term potential performance by addressing emerging risks and opportunities," Mr. Dorment said in the release. "Laura brings a wealth of expertise in this regard. That expertise, combined with the work we have done already, means we are well positioned to integrate ESG into our investment process across all of our asset classes."
Ms. Kane was formerly the U.S. head of thematic research at UBS Wealth Management. While at UBS, she also managed the launch of more than 20 sustainable investment themes for the U.S. market and collaborated with UBS Asset Management to "develop an innovative separately managed account strategy that reflects wealth management themes and incorporates ESG considerations," Voya added in the release.
UBS declined to comment on Ms. Kane's successor.
Voya Investment Management, the asset management arm of Voya Financial Inc., managed more than $252 billion in assets as of Sept. 30.
