BlackRock names new head of sustainable and transition solutions

BlackRock has created a head of sustainable and transition solutions role for its business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Louise Kooy-Henckel has been named to the newly-created position, which will involve leading BlackRock’s growth “in a region where client demand for sustainable and transition investing is greatest”.

The world’s largest asset manager is currently caught between demands from politicians in the US that it stops pursuing sustainability strategies, and demands from its European clients that it continues to support the transition to a low-carbon economy.

In a statement released today, BlackRock said it runs more than $1trn in “sustainable and transition assets” and has more than 500 dedicated strategies.

“100% of our largest client relationships in Europe have made net zero commitments for their organisations,” it noted.

However, in January it quit the Net Zero Asset Manager alliance, telling clients its involvement in some climate coalitions had “caused confusion” about its investment practices and landed it in hot water with US Republicans.

In its latest investment stewardship note, also published in January, it insisted its team “cannot – and does not try to – direct a company’s strategy or its implementation” when it comes to climate change.

“It is not our role to engineer a specific decarbonisation outcome in the real economy,” it said.Kooy-Henckel spent nearly seven years leading sustainability and impact investing for Wellington Management’s EMEA business.

Before that, she worked for almost two decades at JP Morgan Asset Management, including as head of its global equities client portfolio management team.

Kooy-Henckel is a non-executive director for the UK-based advisory Pensions for Purpose, and a trustee for JP Morgan’s JPMC UK Retirement Plan, according to her LinkedIn profile.

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