Director, Responsible Investing recruitment
In order to build a diversified portfolio of CPP assets, the CPP Investment Board invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, inflation-linked bonds, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in London and Hong Kong, the CPP Investment Board is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm's length from governments. For more information about the CPP Investment Board, please visit www.cppib.ca.
Role Summary
Reporting to the Vice-President and Head of Global Corporate Securities (“GCS”) and based in Toronto, the Director, Responsible Investing is accountable for leading the strategic approach and implementation of the Responsible Investing program at the CPP Investment Board (“CPPIB”), a program which views responsible investing through the lens of long-term risk and return.
As prudent long horizon investors, CPPIB’s goal is to ensure that CPPIB investment teams, and corporations in which CPPIB invests, recognize potentially material risks and opportunities related to Environmental Social and Governance (“ESG”) issues in their investment and corporate decisions, and adopt best practices as investors or corporate managers to significantly influence and enhance long-term corporate/financial performance.
Our approach incorporates two fundamental activities. One is furthering the integration of ESG issues as appropriate into investment decision-making. The other is a comprehensive program of corporate engagement (i.e. direct, collaborative and/or industry dialogue, proxy voting) and reporting.
The Director, Responsible Investing and his/her team provide strong cross-functional expertise to the investment departments and teams within CPP Investment Board. As the ESG specialists within CPPIB, the team works closely with other colleagues to identify and research material potential impacts due to ESG factors and assists in their evaluation as part of the investment decision-making process, within Public Market Investments’ (“PMI”), as well as CPPIB’s Private Investments (“PI”) and Real Estate Investments (“REI”) departments.
In addition, this position is a member of and works closely with the Responsible Investing Committee (“RIC”), which sets direction for and oversees all Responsible Investing strategies and activities of the firm. This includes regularly reviewing the Policy on Responsible Investing and the Proxy Voting Principles and Guidelines to ensure CPPIB’s activities meet both our investment objectives and best practice standards as an active investor.
Finally, the Director, Responsible Investing oversees proxy voting for the firm, and also takes the lead on responding to certain key initiatives (e.g. commenting on proposed rule changes) pertaining to good corporate governance.
Role Specific Accountabilities
Responsible Investing Strategy Research
- Work within the CPPIB investment departments to assist in the process of identifying, researching, and subsequently incorporating ESG factors into the investment analysis and decision-making processes of PMI, PI and REI. Specifically, the role will assist in the identification of relevant ESG issues to be incorporated within investment policy recommendations, and inform as to best practices for ESG-related metrics and analysis
- Within GCS, work with the portfolio management sector teams to identify and incorporate risk and return factors related to ESG issues that will materially affect the long term intrinsic value of the corporations with respect to which they are making investment decisions (long or short)
- Establish, oversee and execute an applied ESG research agenda (issues, best practices and standards, sectors and company evaluation, impact on corporate costs/revenues/profitability/ reputation/pricing, interpretation of academic studies, enhancement of third-party research) evaluating the impact of ESG factors to the extent they affect long-term risk and return
- As a member of, and working in close cooperation with the RIC, oversee the refinement and approval of principles, strategy, and approach to the Responsible Investing Policy and Proxy Voting Principles and Guidelines that take into consideration ESG factors within the context of the investment-only legislated mandate at CPPIB
- Continue to develop and implement the firm’s policy of active corporate engagement (i.e. collaborative action, input to regulators, direct dialogue) to promote appropriate disclosure of ESG issues by the entities in which we invest
Leadership and Management
Key member of GCS management team:
- Actively participate in people management principles and practices and talent assessment in the GCS team
Leads and inspires the Responsible Investing group:
- Provides real-time, actionable, feedback, coaching and mentoring to continually develop talent
- Foster the application of the Responsible Investing Policy within the PI and REI investment processes, through effective liaison, collaboration and coordination
- Represent the CPPIB in appropriate professional forums, actively developing pension fund, corporate and financial industry contacts to develop market intelligence and positioning CPPIB’s approach accurately and effectively
Oversight and Management Activities
- Ensures that the Responsible Investing group works effectively within GCS and with the investment teams (PI, REI and the broader PMI group) to, foster the inclusion of ESG factors in due diligence and assessments of intrinsic value of companies or other investments ahead of commitment and decision-making process, and in ongoing management of our investments
- Ensures the effective implementation of CPPIB’s corporate engagement efforts (proxy voting, collaborative initiatives of investor and industry groups, input to regulators, and direct dialogue and meetings etc.) to seek critically important disclosures and foster positive corporate conduct. Advises CPPIB senior management and the RIC on specific issues requiring senior management decisions, notably on proxy votes
- Partners with and leverage the skills and insights of the Responsible Investing team to transfer information to other parts of CPPIB. Proactively inform other departments of issues or key initiatives that affect their accountabilities. Maintains and enhances the profile of Responsible Investing through company-wide communications
- Works co-operatively with the Public Affairs Communications (PAC) department to address CPPIB reputation, external communications and other topical matters related to Responsible Investing and ESG issues
- Monitors and reports on Responsible Investing activities internally and externally
- Stays abreast of research in Responsible Investing issues, best practices, standards and company evaluation. Working with PAC, annually publishes a Responsible Investing report, describing CPPIB’s approach, activities and the results achieved
If you possess the following, we’d like to hear from you:
- Represents CPPIB at local, national and international investment forums and maintains a network of investment professionals, thought leaders and other business contacts, to advance the CPPIB’s objectives and enhance its brand
- Builds and maintains strong relationships internally as well as externally
- Delivers high quality board and committee presentations, both verbally and in writing
- 10+ years of relevant senior experience where the primary emphasis and time allocation has been related to Responsible Investing and the analysis of environmental, social, and good governance factors
- Respected as an outstanding professional in his/her chosen field
- Demonstrated breadth of investment, leadership and management experience
- Experience with the successful development and implementation of strategy and policy
- Proven collaborative approach; shares information openly and is open to the ideas of others
- Superior interpersonal skills; effective communicator (oral and written), particularly communicating relevant concepts in understandable ways
- Combines intellectual curiosity with analytical rigour
- Ability to initiate and champion change
- Ability to meet tight deadlines and work well under pressure
- Team player who enjoys a high performance culture
- Exhibits confidence, executive presence and professionalism
If you are looking for an exciting opportunity and to build a career in an innovative and dynamic organization, submit your resume by clicking on APPLY ONLINE below.
We thank all applicants for their interest, however only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. CPP Investment Board is an Equal Opportunity Employer