Kristen McGachey’s Post

J.P. Morgan Private Bank EMEA CEO Pablo Garnica talks to Financial News about the company's growth plans, as well as how it is attracting talent from more diverse backgrounds and responding to the rise of AI. #privatebanking #wealthmanagement #DEI #AI https://lnkd.in/ecw7Qgcf

Who’s excited about the general election? The City’s ESG experts, that’s who. They say a regime change offers the opportunity to “reset” the UK’s green agenda after much backtracking under Rishi Sunak’s administration. Seb Beloe, partner and head of research at WHEB Asset Management, told Financial News, he questions whether any of the major parties are fully up to the task of tackling climate change. “[But] it is clear that Labour sees the future competitiveness of the UK as inextricably linked to the net zero agenda. “This alone makes the prospect of a Labour government enormously more appealing than a continuation of the previous Conservative administration.” Matthew Evans, UK sustainable equities portfolio manager at Ninety One, said: “[We want] a consistent approach and one that will not be ever changing. The word ‘stability’ is being used a lot, but it is so important to encourage long term investment.” #generalelection #assetmanagement #ESG https://lnkd.in/egrWdDxK

Exclusive: 7IM has suffered more key departures from its investment team after being taken over by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, including head of investment strategy Terence Moll. #wealthmanagement https://lnkd.in/e-yh2y6M

Thanks to RBC BlueBay Asset Management's Polina Kurdyavko for chatting with me about her unconventional path to the City. When she couldn't get a job in her home country of Russia, Polina moved to the US in the mid-1990s with no money or connections, eventually taking a job as a dishwasher in California. She hopped around doing a variety of jobs — working at a travel agency, as an interpreter and research assistant — all the while completing her degree in finance at a Russian university. It's a level of multi-tasking I don't think I could master! #womeninfinance #assetmanagement #emergingmarkets https://lnkd.in/eYAk2X5v

Gresham House has more than doubled its stake in wealth firm Brooks Macdonald over the past two months to £42m. It comes at a time of rampant consolidation in the industry, particularly among mid-sized players, and as private equity giants are swooping on firms with historically cheap price tags. #wealthmanagement #assetmanagement #privateequity https://lnkd.in/eng_YXgX

Europe's watchdogs are calling on the European Commission to scrap the Article 8 and 9 fund categories. Instead, they want "simple" product categories, including 'sustainable' and 'transition'. Oddly, not seen this get much coverage today, despite the fact it has huge implications for Europe's fund industry... https://lnkd.in/e2PG4Jgk

Hargreaves Lansdown is looking to extend talks with CVC Capital Partners and Nordic Capital about a revised offer to buy the platform group, according to reports. https://lnkd.in/e-jqjYKk

Why private equity wants Hargreaves Lansdown Former staffers say the UK’s largest direct-to-consumer investment platform remains a hot takeover target even if the latest bid put in by a consortium including CVC Capital Partners and Nordic Capital doesn't pan out. “The competition has got tougher and arguably some of those are more fleet of foot and leading with technology, not to mention on price,” one former senior employee said. #Hargreaves #mergersandacquisitions #investmentplatform https://lnkd.in/eWPrRFuc

Desiree Fixler rocked the ESG industry to its core when she blew the whistle on DWS in 2021 for overstating its sustainability credentials. Now the former sustainable investing executive tells Financial News she wants to bring the whole system down and how she is re-inventing herself as an anti-ESG advocate. “I can conclude today that [ESG] is a scam,” Fixler says. “The best way to describe it is a marketing scheme to peddle tech stock, momentum portfolios wrapped in a feel-good label that overcharges investors.” Fixler, who was one of ESG's earliest cheerleaders, tells FN the industry has gone too far and has become an “absolute bureaucratic tax on society”. She adds that the concerted push to achieve net zero will “ultimately lead to hardship globally”, including “restricting access to fossil fuels in the global south”. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e3dTDYDH