ESG Analyst - Corporate Governance (North America)

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Job description

Job Description

Our responsible investment approach can be characterized by four pillars:

• Thought leadership: we strive to be responsible investment advocates and thought leaders on key ESG issues and their relevance to investors, and bring a constructive investor voice to standard setting in public policy.
• Active ownership: we work closely with the companies that we, or our clients, invest in to improve management of ESG issues and bring about positive change. We use our influence and expertise, supported by data, to engage on behalf of £418 billion of CTI GAM and reo® client holdings. We support our engagement work with the thoughtful exercise of our voting rights.
• ESG integration: we ensure that all relevant ESG factors are considered in our investment analysis in a way that is meaningful to each asset class and strategy to provide a more comprehensive and rounded risk and opportunity perspective.
• Funds and solutions: we offer a comprehensive range of funds and solutions structured around sustainable and responsible criteria. We currently manage £9.9 billion assets in these strategies at June 2021.

We have a large, dedicated resource supporting our activities in the form of our growing Responsible Investment (RI) team, working globally and based in London, Amsterdam and Toronto. The RI team is made up of ESG specialists who are passionate about making a difference. Now is an exciting time to join the team as we have ambitious plans in this space. We are seeking highly motivated, passionate individuals to help us continue to innovate and be a leading asset manager in responsible investment. If you'd like to join us on our journey, please get in touch.

We embrace diversity and equip you to reach your potential! We provide employees with competitive compensation and rewards. Our comprehensive benefits support your health and help you balance your career and personal life.

Responsibilities

We are looking for an experienced analyst to join our team to lead our proxy voting and engagement with North American companies and to contribute globally to sector coverage of ESG research and engagement. We would like to recruit a high caliber individual with a genuine passion for ESG.
Key responsibilities
• Responsible for engagement at a senior level with companies on ESG issues, working collaboratively with the broader team and with a particular focus on Corporate Governance in the North American markets
• Support policy development and process management for proxy voting in North America
• Research and execute votes at shareholder meetings in US and Canada
• Contribute to the integration of ESG factors in the investment management process, conducting analysis of ESG risks and opportunities in allocated sector coverage, working closely with fund managers and investment teams
• Produce high-quality written work including writing up individual company meetings and ESG thematic research to contribute to thought leadership output.
• Support in preparing materials to promote the Responsible Investment team/CTI GAM in the wider ESG marketplace
• Represent CTI externally and interface with clients

Required Qualifications

• Corporate Governance and proxy voting experience in the North American markets and good awareness of the North American political and economic and governance context.
• Company engagement experience, particularly regular interaction with board Chairs, directors, CEOs.
• Some experience of working with portfolio managers on ESG topics
• Strong analytical skills
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills and an ability to address sensitive topics constructively with corporate leadership, to build relationships and make progress
• A passion to continue to build ESG knowledge and apply it in a practical context to achieve meaningful change through engagement.
• An ability to work autonomously and take ownership, but also able to work effectively as part of a broader team with a strong sense of collaboration to achieve shared goals.

Preferred Qualifications

• Some specific sector or issue knowledge is desired, gained through professional and/or academic work. Looking to build experience in human rights, D&I, and environmental stewardship issues
• Interest in engaging companies in the TMT or extractives sectors.
• A good network in the corporate governance/investment/pension fund community

About Our Company

Millions of people around the world rely on Columbia Threadneedle Investments to manage their money. We're intentionally built to help our clients succeed, backed by a global team of 2,000 people including more than 450 investment professionals sharing global perspectives across all major asset classes and markets. At Columbia Threadneedle, you'll find the promise we make to our clients is the same one we make to our employees: Your success is our priority. In addition to our competitive total rewards package, employees stay with us because of our culture and commitment to their development. And, backed by the strength of our parent company, Ameriprise Financial, we are committed to providing you with the tools, resources, recognition and rewards to help you shape the career you want.

Ameriprise Financial is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, genetic information, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, gender identity, disability, veteran status, marital status, family status or any other basis prohibited by law.