NEW YORK (June 29, 2019) — ISS ESG, the responsible investment arm of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., today announced the appointment of Bonnie Saynay to lead Global ESG research. She will be based in New York and report to ESG business head, Marija Kramer.
Saynay will assume responsibility for ISS’ ESG data strategy and research across the globe. In this new role, Saynay will lead teams tasked with evaluating ESG market standards and evolving ESG frameworks in order to augment and continually refresh the methodologies underlying ISS ESG’s industry leading research solutions. She will also oversee and provide strategic guidance on the procurement and delivery of global ESG data underlying a variety of both existing as well as new ISS ESG research offerings. With an overarching mandate to support clients’ investment decision-making processes, Saynay will also work across teams to deliver bespoke ESG research and other forms of content to aid institutions in their ESG integration and materiality efforts.
“We are collectively delighted to have someone of Bonnie’s caliber joining the business as momentum towards ESG integration accelerates and institutions look to ISS ESG as the gold-standard in sustainability research, ratings, and data,” said Kramer. “She and the entire global research and data team are deeply committed to delivering unrivalled solutions and services to our clients and I look forward to working with her in furtherance of this core objective.”
Responsible investment industry veteran Saynay is the founder of Global ESG Advisors and former Global Head of Responsible Investment at Invesco Ltd. where she built the firm’s grassroots and industry recognized ESG stewardship strategy and platform across the globe. Over a nearly two decade career at the firm, Saynay advised global asset owners and regulators across Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America on the firm’s ESG platform, and remains a frequent speaker and participant at responsible and sustainable investment forums, including those hosted by the OECD, PRI, and the Investment Company Institute. An advocate of diversity and inclusion, Saynay was chosen to participate in the Cartier Women’s initiative dedicated to encouraging and supporting businesses led by women entrepreneurs. She is an advisory board member for the Dutch-based Rights and Responsibilities of Institutional Investors and the Nature Conservancy’s Houston chapter.
“It’s an honor to join ISS ESG, a globally recognized leader in ESG offerings whose clients enjoy access to an unrivalled and highly talented ESG analyst team of nearly 200 spread across global financial centers,” said Saynay. “Our core mission will be to deliver differentiated bespoke data and research and superior investment information tools leveraging frontier technologies to meet the institutional investor community’s growing focus on sustainability and impact solutions.”
