Brenda Kramer has left PGGM to lead a think-tank focused on sustainable finance.
Kramer spent eight years as a senior adviser at the Dutch pension giant, where she specialised in responsible investment. Most recently, she was in charge of helping it implement the EU’s new Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
She represented PGGM on the Investor Advisory Board of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) until her departure last month, and advised the European Commission on its sustainable finance agenda between 2018 and 2022.
Before joining the pensions industry, Kramer held economist roles at the Dutch central bank and the Finance Ministry.
Now she will take the helm at Sustainable Finance Lab (SFL), a think-tank hosted by the University of Utrecht.
Set up in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to mobilise the Dutch academic community on issues of financial stability and equitable economies, SFL has shifted its focus to more explicit sustainability topics over recent years.
Most recently, it has turned its attention to biodiversity risks for financial institutions, post-growth economics, and the role of central banks and development banks in achieving the transition to a sustainable economy.
“There’s so much great research being done, and we need to make sure it’s better utilised by investment practitioners and the broader financial market,” Kramer told IPE.
“There isn’t enough time in amongst all the day-to-day business for most people in the finance sector to think about big, structural, systemic themes, and get to grips with how to address them. SFL has the time and resources to do that, so one of the drivers for me taking this role is to make sure we make the most of that.”
Kramer replaces SFL’s outgoing director, Rens van Tilburg, who has run the think tank since it launched 13 years ago.
A PGGM spokesperson told IPE that Kramer’s role will be redefined and her responsibilities in implementing SFDR and other regulations taken up by different colleagues and departments within PGGM.
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