Aegon Asset Management has made two new hires to strengthen its now 14-strong global responsible investment team.
Brunno Maradei joins Aegon Asset Management as Global Head of ESG based in The Hague, the Netherlands and Julius Huttunen joins the company as Responsible Investment Manager, based in Chicago, US. Both will report into Roelie van Wijk-Russchen, Global Head of Responsible Business & Public Affairs.
Maradei joins AAM on the 1st of May from the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg where he was a Senior Investment Officer leading execution teams for project finance deals outside the European Union, focusing on climate-friendly impact investments in Africa. Prior to that, Maradei was a Blended Finance Operations Officer in the International Finance Corporation’s Climate Business Department in Washington DC, arranging concessional financing for renewable energy projects in Africa and developing ESG investment products for emerging market investors. He has also previously worked as a senior manager at ESG research provider EIRIS (now part of Moody’s) and in the derivatives and risk management functions at JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley respectively.
In his new role as Global Head of ESG Maradei will manage AAM’s team responsible for all engagement activities, voting and active ownership, ESG integration and reporting support and advice as well as development and maintenance of AAM’s responsible investment policies globally. His particular focus will be on delivering best in class practises and processes to ensure AAM’s leadership position in the Responsible Investment industry.
Huttunen joined the business on the 15th of April as a Responsible Investment Manager from Calvert Research & Management based in Washington DC, where he was an ESG Research Analyst covering corporate issuers (from an ESG perspective) and focusing on the continuous improvement of the Calvert Fund’s ESG process. Prior to this, he was a Sustainable Investment Analyst at Kames Capital and an Investment Analyst at Alliance Trust, working both in Japan and in the UK.
Maradei and Huttunen’s appointments follow several new hires to the global Responsible Business and Public Affairs team this year. The team serves as a company-wide resource for responsible business and investment practices, lending expertise to ESG integration initiatives, contributing to responsible investment product development projects and leading engagement and research efforts to promote understanding of sustainable issues and improving company performance.
Van Wijk-Russchen, says: “Brunno and Julius bring invaluable knowledge and international experience to the team as we continue to strengthen our responsible investment credentials. With a team of 14 people across Aegon Asset Management’s global businesses, including Kames Capital and TKP Investments, we believe AAM has the expertise to continue to lead the way on ESG issues, ensuring our clients’ responsible investing criteria are met and their sustainable goals can be supported.”
