Aviva Investors has expanded its responsible investment team within its real assets unit with three new hires.
Reporting to Edward Dixon (pictured), head of responsible investment, real assets, at Aviva Investors, Phillipa Grant joins as director of sustainable investments, Elizabeth Ortiz has been appointed as an associate and Jeremy Ho joins as an analyst.
“Our recent Real Assets Study showed that 57% of institutional investors have a commitment to reaching net zero, so it is vitally important we have the resource and expertise to guide our clients and show how real assets allocations can align portfolios with those objectives,” commented Dixon.
“Therefore, we are really pleased to extend the responsible investment capabilities of our real assets function through the appointment of Phillipa, Elizabeth and Jeremy. All three hires bring an enviable level of expertise from across a range of geographies and sectors to address this need and we believe they will materially advance the breadth and depth of our sustainability offering to clients.”
Grant joins Aviva Investors following eight years at AESG, a global advisory business, where she was a partner and global director of sustainability. In her new role, she will be responsible for delivering sustainability outcomes for clients across Aviva Investors’ real assets sustainable fund range, providing advice to support with strategy development and investment decisions, alongside delivery and reporting within portfolios.
Ortiz joins from KPMG where she was an assistant manager, leading on climate strategy development for corporate clients. In her role at Aviva Investors, she will focus on developing and delivering client sustainability objectives across private markets asset classes. Prior to her role at KPMG, Ortiz researched whilstleblower cases with Kirby McInerney LLP.
Jeremy Ho, meanwhile, will be responsible for delivering sustainability research and due diligence for the growing private lending business at Aviva Investors. He joins having previously worked at Pyxis Wealth Advisors and proSapient, where he carried out cross-asset class research for hedge fund, private equity and ultra-high-net-worth family clients.
This story first appeared in our sister publication, PA future.