Stockholm (NordSIP) – Transparency and the ability to direct capital towards the right projects is crucial to the world’s ability to fund the projects necessary to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Based in Sweden, the Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute (AFII) does this through a markets-focused approach to positive climate impact in fixed income to challenge structural features of bond markets that hinder the success of a rapid climate transition
On Monday, May 10th, Josephine Richardson joined the AFII as Head of Portfolio Strategy, leading the development and practical application of AFII’s portfolio management techniques and products designed to support credit investors in aligning their portfolios to climate/ESG.
“I am very excited to take the next steps of my career with AFII, an organisation whose values align directly to my own. Addressing climate change is the issue for our generation, and efficient allocation of credit can be a force for good in that transition,” Richardson said.
Meet Josephine Richardson
Richardson joins the AFII from JPMorgan Chase where she has worked for nearly 20 years, most recently as Executive Director in the Valuations Control group after almost 4 year trading iTraxx indices and high grade securities and derivatives. Consequently, she has extensive experience trading structured-, flow- and index credit products, and also on modelling and valuation of derivatives. Richardson has a MA Hons Mathematics from Trinity College Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Management Accountants.
“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Josephine Richardson as the Head of Portfolio Strategy at AFII. Her valuable experience across the fixed income spectrum will be key in providing our investor stakeholders with the support they need in delivering climate positive investments,” Justine Leigh-Bell, Executive Director at the AFII commented.
“Central to AFII is to actively interact with asset owner and managers to provide analytical support and idea generation on the fixed income climate topics that are most relevant to investors. We are very pleased to have Josephine join as key person to drive and strengthen this engagement,” Ulf Erlandsson, CEO of AFII added.
Shining a Light on Sustainable Fixed Income
Although Richardson has extensive experience of financial markets, sustainable investments are somewhat new to her. “My experience is primarily in fixed income markets, where I have very broad knowledge across credit products. I have been following developments in sustainable investing for some time, and I think now is the right time to combine the two, as sustainable investing continues to move into the mainstream,” she explained.
The importance of fixed income to sustainable finance and her extensive experience, however, make her an obvious draw for AFII. “I think, with the urgent need to address climate change, now is the time when sustainable fixed income will become fixed income; sustainable concerns will increasingly be considered in all investment decisions, by all market participants. In order to mobilise as much capital as we can, it is essential to communicate and educate the market on sustainability concerns; but the audience is ready. Looking forward, I think there is potential for climate change to be the single issue for all investors and market participants, and I am excited to be part of that transition,” Richardson added.
“For me, the key challenge is to adapt the themes of sustainable investing to be accessible from as wide an audience of market participants as possible, to bring rigorous environmental analysis to the mainstream markets. Too often, sustainability considerations are not combined with real market experience, to be relevant for asset owners and managers. The challenge is to widen the audience, and so maximise the impact,” Richardson concluded.
