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    Manulife Investment Management’s Asia sustainability lead exits after restructure

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    By Alyson Slater

    Copyright eco-business

    Manulife Investment Management’s Asia sustainability lead exits after restructure

    Eric Nietsch, who has led Manulife Investment Management’s sustainability agenda in Asia for more than five years, is leaving the firm following a restructure.

    Nietsch confirmed his departure in a LinkedIn post this week, where he reflected on his time shaping the insurer’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) research, integration and active ownership strategy across the region.

    In a statement shared with Eco-Business, Manulife IM said: “We can confirm Eric Nietsch’s departure. Alyson Slater, managing director, global stewardship and engagement, will assume responsibility for leading the sustainability support function across Asia, while maintaining her current leadership responsibilities in Europe, Middle East and Africa.”

    Slater, who is based in London, joined Manulife IM in 2022 from the Global Reporting Initiative, where she was director of capital markets engagement.

    Nietsch joined Manulife IM in 2019 as director of environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and integration before being promoted to head of ESG for Asia in 2020.

    In that role, he was responsible for embedding ESG considerations across the firm’s investment processes and worked with portfolio teams to design and manage thematic sustainable strategies.

    His exit comes in a period of flux for sustainability teams in the corporate sector, which has seen several restructures globally as firms respond to changing ESG priorities, with the likes of BlackRock, Starbucks, S&P Global and CDP letting people go this year.

    Before joining Manulife, Nietsch spent five years at S&P Global Ratings in Singapore, where he was Asia Pacific lead on the agency’s global sustainable finance team, helping to develop an ESG evaluation framework.

    Earlier in his career, he held analyst roles at Barclays, StormHarbour Securities and began his career in credit and portfolio analysis in New York and London.

    While at Manulife IM, he represented the company in a number of regional and global initiatives, including the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC).

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