JANA appoints new Head of Sustainability

One of Australia’s largest investment consulting firms, JANA, has appointed leading risk expert Rachel Halpern as Head of Sustainability.

Ms Halpern joins JANA following an established advisory career covering risk and commercial litigation. She joins most recently from Westpac Group as Executive Manager for Risk. Prior to working at Westpac, Ms Halpern has worked in senior counsel and legal roles across the UK and Australia, including as regulatory counsel for APAC and EMEA at State Street Bank, and as an investigator in enforcement and financial crime division of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.

Ms Halpern has a decade’s experience in developing investment strategies which minimises regulatory and fiduciary risk through the effective integration of ESG. As Head of Sustainability, a new position in the business, she will oversee JANA’s fast-growing sustainability team with a focus on managing climate change risk for clients.

Speaking on the announcement, Principal Consultant Duncan Smith said, “JANA has been steadily expanding our capabilities in the sustainability space in recent years. We are thrilled to have someone with Rachel’s unique skill set and international perspective on board to ensure we deliver not only exceptional investment outcomes for clients but also superior sustainability outcomes.”

“Rachel’s experience in ESG integration, and Green Framework implementation in particular, will be fundamental in achieving sustainable long-term investment outcomes from well-constructed portfolios for our clients.”

Ms Halpern said, “I have dedicated my career to make a strive towards a real shift in fostering ethical and resilient financial systems. JANA is already leading the way in sustainable investment practices, and as Australia’s largest investment consultancy we have the scale to truly influence the future for the industry.”

“I look forward to embarking on this journey to continuously improve, support and implement JANA in  sustainable investment practices.”

Ms Halpern joins JANA effective 24 May 2021. She will work closely with JANA’s Head of Responsible Investment Tim Conly, and marks the sixth appointment to JANA’s fast-growing responsible investing research team.