M&G Chief Sustainability Officer Kathy Ryan: 4 Things to Know

Financial services firm M&G has hired Irish Life Investment Management (ILIM) veteran Kathy Ryan as chief sustainability officer. Ryan will join M&G on November 13 -- reporting to Chief Financial Officer Kathryn McLeland.

Here are four things to know about Ryan's experience and M&G's sustainability strategy.

1. Business Scope and Scale: M&G, based in London, United Kingdom, manages money for roughly 5 million retail customers and more than 800 institutional clients in 28 markets.  As of June 2023, the company had £332.8 million (US$411.8 million) under management.

2. Sustainability Commitments: M&A expects to achieve net zero by 2050 across operations and the company's investment portfolio. Incremental sustainability goals include:

• A 46% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030.
• A 46% reduction in Scope 3 business travel emissions by 2030.
• Designing a supply chain that involves 67% of suppliers by 2030 setting ambitious carbon reduction targets aligned with climate science.

3. Kathy Ryan's Experience: Ryan in 2013 founded an ESG investment research and analytics firm, Global Green Investments. She advised clients such as the Worldbank, Carbon Tracker, the European Commission and the UK government. More recently, Ryan was head of responsible investment at ILIM.

Ryan will lead M&G’s group sustainability strategy, "embedding sustainability across the business and helping to drive real-world positive change by acting as a responsible long-term investor," the company said.

4. Executive Perspectives: In a prepared statement about Ryan joining M&G, CFO Kathryn McLeland said: “I’m delighted to welcome Kathy to M&G. The depth of her technical expertise and wealth of experience progressing sustainable investing makes her ideal to drive our sustainability strategy forward.”

Added Ryan: “Our industry has an immense role to play in improving sustainable outcomes achieved and financing the transition to net zero. Through responsible asset management, pensions, life and savings, M&G can play a significant role in developing sustainable long term investment solutions and building on existing initiatives such as PruFund Planet and its Catalyst investment strategy. I look forward to working with my colleagues to build on M&G’s existing capabilities and progress its approach to sustainability.”

M&G Chief Sustainability Officer: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

The bottom line: Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO customer needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.