Emma Pringle appointed Head of ESG at Maple-Brown Abbott

Emma Pringle has been appointed as the Head of ESG on a permanent basis at Maple-Brown Abbott (MBA).

Ms Pringle brings a background in product governance and sustainability across superannuation, investments and insurance, gained at BT, most recently as Head of Customer Governance and Sustainability. Prior to this, she held strategy and operations roles in BT’s private wealth, superannuation, investments, platforms and advice divisions. Ms Pringle has also served as co-Chair of the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative (ASFI) technical working group on meeting community expectations.

Over the past 12 months, while in a maternity cover role, Ms Pringle has built on Maple-Brown Abbott’s long established ESG program.

This includes joining two leading investor collaborations aligned to Maple-Brown Abbott’s ESG focus areas: Climate Action 100+ and Investors Against Slavery and Trafficking Asia-Pacific. Maple-Brown Abbott also confirmed its commitment to managing climate risk, becoming a signatory to both the Transition Pathway Initiative and the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures.

In her role, Ms Pringle will have oversight of the ESG process for all MBA’s Australian and Asian equity strategies and at the corporate level. In 2020, Georgia Hall was appointed to the newly created role of ESG Analyst for the Maple-Brown Abbott Global Listed Infrastructure business, an affiliate of MBA, to provide dedicated oversight of the Global Listed Infrastructure ESG process. Ms Pringle and Ms Hall have worked closely together over the past year on these important firm-wide initiatives.

“Emma’s appointment reflects Maple-Brown Abbott’s continued investment in the ESG space and how seriously we view integrating ESG factors into our investment process across all of our portfolios,” said Sophia Rahmani, Maple-Brown Abbott CEO and Managing Director.

“We expect this will be even more important as risks around climate change and social issues like modern slavery become more prevalent. Emma brings market-leading experience and talent and I’m confident that under her oversight we will continue to be a leader in ESG.

“Maple-Brown Abbott has been a signatory to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) since 2008 and was again being awarded an A+ for its approach in 2020. We have a long-standing commitment to integrating ESG factors into our investment process across each of our investment strategies. Our ESG strategy was formalised in 2008, one of the earliest for Australian-based boutiques, when the Board approved the first ESG policy and we became a signatory to the PRI.”

Emma’s appointment follows the departure of Natasha McKean as ESG Investment Analyst after she decided to take up a position in Brisbane, where she lives, following her maternity leave.

Garth Rossler, Chief Investment Officer, said Ms McKean had been pivotal in developing and implementing MBA strategies over a decade.

We thank Natasha for her immense contribution to Maple-Brown Abbott and wish her well for her future endeavours,” Mr Rossler said.

“With her strong ESG background, Emma will continue to build on what Natasha started. ESG considerations are playing an increasingly important role in our clients’ portfolios with the transition to net zero.”

Emma Pringle, Head of ESG