Who moved, and why it matters: Q3 2026

Written By Neil Farrell

A quarterly note from Farrell Associates on senior hiring in sustainability and sustainable finance. It takes about four minutes to read.

The read of the quarter

When a senior sustainability seat fell vacant this quarter, it rarely came back in the same shape. Allianz Global Investors replaced its global head of sustainable and impact investing with a splt job brief. HSBC moved sustainability research into its macro strategy group. Norway's sovereign wealth fund will move its ownership team into active management from January, following the departure of its chief governance officer. Federated Hermes brought thematic and responsible investing together under one head.

The common thread is that sustainability and stewardship are being placed inside the investment function and judged as part of it. For anyone hiring, that changes the brief. The person in demand is an investor who can steward, or a steward who is comfortable in front of an investment committee, and the standalone global head role is becoming rarer.

Moves that mattered

  • Jen Braswell joined M&G as Global Head of Impact for Private Markets, a new role, from EQT.

  • Angelica Nikolausson joined Hamilton Lane as Managing Director, Sustainability and Impact, from GEM.

  • Luciano Lilloy joined Aviva Investors as Head of Sustainable Equities, also a new role, from Impax.

  • Candice Brenet joined Mirova as Deputy CEO from Ardian, as part of a new executive committee under a new chief executive.

  • Isabella Tonaco joined Reckitt as Group Head of Sustainability from Symrise, where she was chief sustainability officer. Symrise replaced her with Carolina Gioscio from Evonik.

  • Amanda Yates became Chief Sustainability Officer at 3M, promoted from within, as Gayle Schueller retires after eight years in the role.

  • Massen-Biemans becomes Chief Sustainability Officer at dsm-firmenichIngeon 1 November, also an internal promotion, reporting to the chief executive.

  • Emma Stewart left Netflix after six years as its first chief sustainability officer.

  • Sonia Kim became Head of Sustainability at MSCI. She joined from GHGSat and was previously head of product at S&P Global Sustainable1.

  • Timothée Jaulin left Amundi to lead Crédit Agricole's new natural capital division, the first of its kind at a large European banking group.

  • Paul Williams joined Barclays as Global Head of Operational Sustainability from Deutsche Bank.

  • Royal London Asset Management began the search for a new chief executive after Hans Georgeson stepped down.

  • Anthesis, the sustainability consultancy, began a global search for a chief executive after Matthew Bell stepped down, following its move to Bridgepoint Credit ownership. It has since appointed a chief clients and markets officer from EY and a chief delivery officer from ERM.

Two of these are newly created roles and a third leads a new division, which shows where firms are still building. Each move also leaves a seat behind it.

What this means for hiring: some of the best people for your next senior role have been unsettled by changes like these, and most of them will not be looking at adverts.

Dates that will drive hiring

  • 10 November 2026. The revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards come into force and apply from the 2027 financial year. Far fewer companies are in scope and there are around 61% fewer mandatory data points. Large groups still in scope now have a fixed target. Elsewhere, mid-level data collection roles will thin out.

  • 20 November 2026. Comments close on the SEC's proposal to remove the rule that lets shareholders put proposals to a vote at US companies. Managers with US holdings will need engagement leads who can escalate by other means.

  • 1 January 2027. Under the FCA's final rules, published on 30 September, UK listed companies report against the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards for accounting periods starting on or after this date, on a comply or explain basis. Expect demand through 2027 for reporting leads with the rigour of a financial controller.

  • During 2027. The first full year in which ESMA supervises ESG rating providers. More than 100 have applied for authorisation. Each one needs people for compliance, methodology governance and regulatory affairs.

By sector

Asset managers and asset owners. Asset owners are doing more. FTSE Russell's survey of 402 owners found 84% integrating sustainability, up from 73%. London CIV's assets rose from £38.5bn to more than £64bn in six months, and Nest moved a £3.5bn emerging markets mandate to Wellington to get deeper engagement. Hiring follows the assets, into the pension pools and into the stewardship teams of the managers who want their mandates.

Private markets. TPG's second Rise Climate fund reached $10bn and Allianz Global Investors raised more than €1bn for impact direct lending. Capital on that scale needs sustainability and value creation people inside portfolio companies as well as at the fund.

ESG data and technology. Glass Lewis merged with Clarity AI, and Greenly's purchase of Normative was the fourth carbon accounting merger of the year. Consolidation releases experienced commercial and product people, which is useful if you are building a sales team.

Corporates. New EU rules on green claims have applied since 27 September, with fines linked to turnover. Consumer brands need sustainability leaders who can work between legal and marketing. In the United States, senior sustainability roles at companies including Solventum and PagerDuty were removed or folded into more junior positions, which adds to the number of experienced people available.

Nature and impact finance. Alongside Crédit Agricole's new division, J.P. Morgan committed about $200m to a forestry platform in Paraguay and Aviva put £8.9m into Bristol's wetland programme. The OECD estimates private biodiversity finance at under $10bn a year, so teams are small and the senior hires are people who can build a business.

What I am hearing from candidates

Senior people have largely stopped applying to job adverts. They tell me they hear nothing back, or receive a rejection too quickly for anyone to have read the application. If an advert is your main route for a senior role, you are seeing only part of the market.

Many are open to moves they would not have considered two years ago. Experienced people from asset managers are talking seriously to data and technology companies, and to UK impact and infrastructure managers that are still building their teams.

Overall hiring is still very quite against the tensions in the Middle East. We think that volumes will surge when that conflict resolves and/or when we get to the middle of October and organisations aim to release unspent headcount.

What we are working on

Currently, we are running searches for a CFO for an impact fund, CEO for a non-profit, sales leadership roles for ESG data and stewardship technology companies in London and New York, and an interim sustainability reporting role for a UK pension investor. If any of this touches a hire you are planning, or for any other hiring, I am always happy to compare notes.

Neil Farrell Founder, Farrell Associates

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Sources:

Neil Farrell
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