Franklin Templeton hires ESG exec from Calpers

Franklin Templeton has appointed Anne Simpson as its global head of sustainability. In the new position at the San Mateo, California-based asset manager, Simpson will be in charge of the asset management firm’s overall strategic direction on stewardship, sustainability and environmental, social and governance investment strategy globally.

Simpson joins Franklin Templeton from the California Public Employees Retirement System, where she served as managing investment director for board governance and sustainability, developing and executing its sustainability investment strategy across a global portfolio of $500 billion in which 80% of assets are internally managed.

“A hire of this prominence demonstrates our commitment to being a global leader in stewardship and sustainability, which acknowledges that our choices as responsible investors have a profound effect on the world and its future,” Jenny Johnson, Franklin Templeton's president and CEO, said in a statement. “We are confident that Anne’s expertise and leadership will take our firm-wide efforts on sustainable investing to the next level."

Before joining Calpers, Simpson was a senior faculty fellow and lecturer at the Yale School of Management, and served as head of the Global Corporate Governance Forum at the World Bank, executive director of the International Corporate Governance Network and joint managing director of Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd.

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