River and Mercantile Appoints Roger Lewis as Group Head of ESG
Investment advisory and asset management company River and Mercantile announced that it has hired Roger Lewis, appointing him to the newly created role of Group Head of ESG. In his new position, Lewis will have responsibility for implementing and overseeing the River and Mercantile’s ESG philosophy and core principles across its various investment divisions and integrating these factors within the firm’s investment processes and asset management activities.
Group Chief Executive James Barham, said:
“We welcome Roger’s appointment which underscores our commitment to place environmental, social and governance factors at the heart of everything we do. ESG has been a key part of our investment thinking for many years as has our clients’ interest and awareness of the importance of sustainable investing. This appointment will enable us to enhance our commitments and continue to deliver exciting ESG investment opportunities to both current and future clients.”
Prior to joining River and Mercantile, Lewis worked at environmental services firm Carbon Intelligence, in the role of ESG Associate Director, Real Assets. Before joining Carbon Intelligence, he served as Real Assets ESG & Business Manager at Aviva Investors, where he worked to align ESG strategy and factors with investment functions across the firm’s £47.3bn Real Assets platform. He has also held roles at Legal & General Investment Management and J.P. Morgan.
Lewis said:
“With approximately half of all asset managers’ ESG strategies allocated to listed equities, a unique position to influence asset owners through its investment consultant role and a commitment to long-term active management, River and Mercantile is extremely well positioned to capitalise on the opportunities, while mitigating risks, that ESG presents. Several sustainability mega-trends are emerging where financial institutions play an important role, like rapidly increasing awareness of climate change and drive to achieve 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. This is therefore an exciting time to be joining the Group and I look forward to working with its talented team of investment professionals as they continue to seek opportunities to deliver sustainable, positive returns to investors.”