Investment manager First Sentier Investors and MUFG have appointed Velina Karadzhova to lead the recently-launched First Sentier MUFG Sustainable Investment Institute.
Karadzhova will be responsible for developing the institute’s research programme which will include macro-level research on sustainable investment topics, market trends and industry practices. The studies will look at how these developments affect the performance of companies, sectors and economies and their influence on investor capital allocation.
She will work closely with the institute’s external advisory board of prominent sustainability academics and industry leaders, in setting its research agenda and ensuring its research meets high standards.
Karadzhova was previously an environmental, social and governance (ESG) analyst and utilities sector lead at MSCI, where she was responsible for utilities sector and company research, ESG ratings, ESG methodology enhancements and developing new products. She had also held roles as a credit ratings analyst at Moody’s and was a senior associate in audit at PwC.
The First Sentier MUFG Sustainable Investment Institute was launched in May 2021 to publish proprietary, high-quality research on emerging sustainable investment topics that have yet to see significant industry focus. Its aim is to enhance industry awareness of and action on these sustainable investment themes, report on market trends and best practice, and promote a greater understanding of how such issues can impact long-term investment performance.
Its inaugural research report, titled “Microplastic pollution: causes, consequences and issues for investors”, explores the critical and growing problem of microplastic pollution, one of the most significant and neglected threats to the health of our oceans. The research outlines the important role investors can play in encouraging companies and governments to take action to prevent microplastics entering the environment.
Publication of the next report, which will focus on the emissions of synthetic microfibres into the environment and the damage they are causing, is planned for the fourth quarter of 2021.
