Stockholm (NordSIP) – Following two years as Senior ESG Manager at Danish pension fund P+, Anna Maria Fibla Møller joined AP Pension as its Head of Responsible Investments at the start of March 2022. Prior to her position at P+, Fibla Møller worked as ESG Manager at MP Pension, following over four years as an Environment and Social Sustainability Advisor at Denmark’s Eksport Kredit Fonden.
Following of her new appointment, NordSIP caught up with Fibla Møller to hear about her professional experiences integrating ESG, what attracted her to AP Pension, and the challenges she looks forward to tackling there. Despite the importance of old dynamics in highlighting environmental concerns, the new Head of Responsible Investments also warns that ongoing geopolitical developments should focus investors’ attention on social concerns.
A Journey of ESG Integration
AP Pension’s new Head of Responsible Investments looks back at her journey so far with fond memories of pleasant colleagues and developing expertise in ESG integration to alternative investments. “I feel I have been privileged to have had the chance to work in fantastic teams with inspiring colleagues who shared my high ambitions for responsible investments,” Fibla Møller says.
“During my time at MP Pension (Akademiker Pension) I had the chance to work very closely with the investment teams by developing and implementing an ESG rating for external managers. That gave me the possibility to understand how managers with different investment styles work with ESG, integrate ESG considerations in their portfolio construction, and engagement was carried out both in the listed equity and fixed income space. The results were consolidated and we even had feedback sessions with the investment managers, which turned out to be very interesting discussions and a true opportunity to contribute in making a difference,” Fibla Møller adds.
“My years at P+ were extremely insightful and engaging as well. From being a specialist in social and human rights issues, the position at P+ represented a personal challenge to further develop my skills on climate issues and Paris-aligned investment strategies. Together with my colleagues I developed a climate strategy, with the announcement of the climate goals last November. Common to the two positions has been the work in the field of alternative investment. I carried out and improved ESG due diligence processes, a passion which stems from my early career years at the Danish Export Credit Agency (EKF),” Fibla Møller continues.
A Unique Opportunity at AP Pension
For Fibla Møller, the appeal of AP Pension lies not only in the scale of its product offerings but also in the opportunities to contribute to tackling global sustainability challenges that working for such an organisation allows.
“I feel grateful for having the chance to continue developing at AP Pension and their ambitions on sustainability and responsible investments. AP Pension represents a unique opportunity to head the responsible investment efforts in an organisation which has one of the most robust sustainable product offerings in the Danish market,” Fibla Møller explains.
“It is also an opportunity to develop and grow my leadership skills, and I have been lucky enough to have worked with inspiring leaders throughout my career that will surely inspire me. Now, I hope to support each member of the team, create opportunities and perhaps be able to inspire other foreign women pursuing their career within the sustainable finance field,” Fibla Møller adds.
“I look forward to continuing to develop AP Pension’s work on climate and develop climate targets to articulate our net-zero commitment. There is no doubt that we are facing an enormous challenge with the climate crisis, and we are feeling a sense of urgency. We as investors not only have the responsibility to make sure our investment portfolio is resilient to climate change financial risks, but we also need to actively support the climate transition to a low carbon economy through our investment decisions,” Fibla Møller warms.
Just Transition, Human Rights and Regulation
Fibla Møller singles out three main themes as most prominent on her radar: the Just Transition, Human Rights and Regulatory implementation.
“One of the challenges will be to ensure a climate transition which is fair for all communities and people, a Just Transition. Therefore, I believe the stronger interdependence of climate issues with the need to carry out human rights due diligence will continue to increase, as we are for instance seeing with the EU Proposal for Mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence which was released a few weeks ago,” Fibla Møller argues.
“On the other hand, conflicts and extremely concerning situations like the ones we are witnessing now in Ukraine will push investors to continuously increase the focus on social and human rights issues. As investors, we must carry out Human Rights due diligence on our investments, especially in conflict-affected areas or high-risk areas, and we need to carefully evaluate how to act upon the finding of our due diligence exercise and how to use our ‘leverage’. Those can be complex exercises, with no easy answers and plenty of dilemmas,” Fibla Møller continues.
“Finally, I believe that the EU SFDR and Taxonomy regulation will keep us busy and will help us articulate our contribution to the climate transition in a more transparent and structured manner,” Fibla Møller concludes.
