Will Thompson is portfolio manager of the Pacific Multi-Asset Sustainable Balanced Fund and joined Pacific Asset Management in August 2020 from HSBC Global Asset Management where he was a senior portfolio manager on its sustainable multi-asset fund range.
In addition to his portfolio management roles, Will has been responsible for leading the sustainable investment process, working alongside teams across the business in providing and presenting ESG data.
The Responsible Investment Committee reviews PAM’s responsible investment policy framework, supports ESG integration through driving continuous improvement in ESG data, tools and analysis and will have oversight of ESG-related risk within portfolios. It will also approve PRI submissions and support engagement activity.
Enlighten ESG goes live
Enlighten ESG, the ESG suitability tool backed by Pacific Asset Management and for which Will Thompson was a major contributor, has completed its Beta testing and is now live for advisers and corporates to register for access. So far 12 adviser firms and corporations have signed up to use the tool with more to follow. The independently managed tool aims to educate and guide financial advisers and corporates in assessing the ESG preferences of their clients and employees. The aim is to bring personal sustainability context to the already well-established risk profile and suitability framework.
Matt Lamb, CEO of Pacific Asset Management, commented:
“We have always been a technology-led and nimble business and the appointment of our first Chief Sustainability Officer manifests our ambition to become a more sustainable business, in terms of our operations and how we invest. Will was the natural fit for this role with long experience of running sustainable multi-asset portfolios at HSBC and now at PAM. His contribution to the development of the Enlighten ESG suitability profiling tool has been huge and we are excited for him to lead the company’s efforts in this area. Alongside Dani Saurymper and Julia Varesko on our new Pacific Longevity and Social Change Fund, which focuses on the ‘S’ in ESG, we believe we have a team of experts who can drive this next stage of our development.”
