Edmond de Rothschild names first Chief Sustainability Officer

Investment firm Edmond de Rothschild (EDR) has named Nathalie Wallace as its first Chief Sustainability Officer.

The appointment comes after EDR joined the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, which represents €60 trillion in assets under management. 

Wallace joins from Natixis Investment Managers, where she was Global Head of Sustainable Investments since 2021. She started in her new position this week. 

She will be responsible for leading EDR’s portfolio decarbonisation (both in asset management and private banking) in line with its 2050 net zero target. 

The Edmond de Rothschild Chief Sustainability Officer will be based in Paris and report to Group Deputy CEO Cynthia Tobiano and Global CEO Christophe Caspar.

Read also: Net zero investors now manage US$9.5 trillion

Edmond de Rothschild investor activism

The Franco-Swiss investment firm is a vocal supporter of climate investment and “appropriately-screened” sustainability-linked funding. 

It is also one of the TotalEnergies shareholders that regularly pressure the group to tackle its emissions more decisively: EDR was one of the signatories of a 2022 resolution for the alignment of emission reduction targets with a 1.5ºC scenario and joined 16 other asset managers demanding the inclusion of Scope 3 emissions in TotalEnergies’ decarbonisation plans this year (the resolution was rejected, despite strong support).

More recently, the firm launched a climate-focused emerging market bond fund to support the climate transition in emerging economies.

Nathalie Wallace: more than 20 years of sustainable investing experience

Wallace has more than 20 years of experience in promoting the financing of climate and social transition through portfolio management. Prior to Natixis IM, she held ESG-related roles at State Street Global Advisors and sustainability non-profit CERES. She is also a defender of robust reporting frameworks and regulations to mitigate greenwashing risk and help investors make more sustainable decisions.

Commenting on her new appointment, she said: “I am delighted to be joining a group that has always put financing the real economy and sustainability firmly at the heart of its concerns. The family has always promoted sustainable investing and I’m excited to be given the chance to help the organisation through the next stage of their ESG development.”