Sustainable Asset Management, a Swiss-headquartered investment management business that is majority owned by Dutch bank Robeco, said it has appointed Roman Binder as its new chief operating officer and executive committee member.

Mr Binder previously worked as a chief credit officer for private banking in the Asia Pacific and Middle East region for Credit Suisse, and also worked as a consultant for McKinsey, the consultancy firm.

In his new role, Mr Binder, a Swiss citizen, will be responsible for legal issues, compliance, information technology, project management and risk management.

Zurich-based SAM is an investment firm focusing on areas such as water, energy and climate. SAM, in partnership with Dow Jones and the STOXX  index providing firm, has launched a stable of sustainability indices that show the performance of companies that score highly for meeting criteria of sustainability. The company oversees a total of SFr8.5 billion ($8.19 billion) of assets, and indirectly is responsible for a further SFR6.6 billion via consulting and licensing agreements.