Australian Ethical hires ESG heavyweight

Australian Ethical Investment has added another sustainable investment professional to its team as it continues to attract more capital.

The fund has hired Dan Simpson as a sustainable and impact specialist and the link between the business's investment, distribution and communication teams.

In the new role, the recruit is the conduit between the investment and client teams to help articulate Australian Ethical's investment philosophy, process, strategy and purpose.

Simpson has over 20 years of experience working in the investment industry in New Zealand, Hong Kong, the UK, Germany and Australia.

His career includes five years at ANZ Private Bank, where he established an impact investment business.

As head of portfolio management at the lender, Simpson managed a suite of diversified investment funds and an impact investment platform for wholesale and institutional clients.

Before that, the sustainability investment specialist spent 14 years at Willis Towers Watson, leading the investment consulting team in Sydney and advising superannuation clients.

Australian Ethical deputy investment chief John Woods said that having managed and advised investment portfolios for some significant institutional and wholesale asset owners over the past 20 years, Simpson will bring valuable insights and influence.

"Australian Ethical has tripled its assets in the last three years, and Dan will play a pivotal role in our growth plans moving forward," Woods said.

Simpson added: "As a passionate proponent of ethical and impact investing, I'm thrilled to have joined the talented team at Australian Ethical.

"The firm is not just an outstanding responsible investment option but a highly complementary addition to mainstream portfolios. Our consistent positioning at the top end of mainstream fund performance surveys for the last 39 years is a testament to this. We've demonstrated that our strong performance is not in spite of our ethical approach but because of it."