With investors increasingly interested in making ESG-focused investments, French-Swiss private banking house Edmond de Rothschild makes senior hire to cater to this market.

Edmond de Rothschild has appointed Nathalie Wallace (pictured) as chief sustainability officer, based in Paris. 

The firm said it believes that investments must have an impact on society, and has undertaken various ESG initiatives to demonstrate the fact. Wallace is fully committed to this approach and will oversee the group's sustainable initiatives, both in asset management and private banking, the group said in a statement. In this newly-created role, and as part of the recent commitment to the “Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative” (NZAM), she will help to achieve the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 

Wallace reports to Cynthia Tobiano, deputy CEO Group, and Christophe Caspar, global CEO of Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management.  

Wallace has more than 20 years of experience combining portfolio management and executive leadership to spearhead the financing of the climate and social transitions. She has spent her career in Boston in the US for almost 25 years. Before joining Edmond de Rothschild, she had worked for Natixis Investment Managers as global head of sustainable investment, a member of executive, investment and seed committees, board member at Mirova and Ostrum, since September 2021. Prior to that, she was global head of strategy and business development at Mirova, the firm said.  

Between 2018 and 2020, Wallace worked for State Street Global Advisors as global head of ESG investment strategy. Her previous experience was with CERES where she stayed for three years as head of investor engagement programme. Wallace has several advisory roles, such as co-lead at the climate change steering committee in the Investor Leadership Network, a G7 initiative, the firm added. She is also a Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA) from the French Society of Financial Analysts (SFAF). She also has an FSA Credential from the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB), she is a graduate of Institut Supérieur de Gestion Business School in Paris and the Harvard University Extension School in Cambridge. 

Welcoming Wallace to the firm, Caspar said: “She is a highly qualified professional who will strongly contribute to the further development of our ESG strategy, to which we have long been committed. She will take it a step further both in liquid assets and private markets, for the benefit of our clients.”  

Founded in 1953, the group has nearly SFr158 billion ($175 billion) in assets under management and 30 locations worldwide.