UBS Introduces a New Sustainable Finance CommitteeChaired by Huw van Steenis

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Aug 23, 2019

UBS is pleased to announce that Huw van Steenis will join on 2 September 2019 to chair the new, firm-wide Sustainable Finance Committee and lead Investor Relations. He will be a Group Managing Director reporting to both Group Chief Executive Officer Sergio P. Ermotti and Group Chief Financial Officer Kirt Gardner.

UBS is further sharpening its focus on sustainable finance, recognizing increasing client demand and the leading position it already has in the field. The firm will create the Sustainable Finance Committee, comprised of the senior business leaders who are already engaged in its sustainability efforts. This steering group will work together across the firm with a focus on capturing further growth opportunities. It will also ensure that UBS continues to drive innovation and develop expertise and thought-leadership on sustainable finance, which is increasing in relevance to corporate and private clients, investors and other stakeholders.

According to a press release from UBS, Van Steenis will also lead the Investor Relations team of UBS and act as a senior adviser on key topics affecting the future of the industry. Martin Osinga, who had stepped in to lead Investor Relations ad interim, will be Deputy Head Investor Relations.

Prior to joining UBS, van Steenis was a senior adviser to Governor Mark Carney at the Bank of England (BoE). In this role, he led a review of the future of the financial system and what it might mean for the BoE's agenda, toolkit and capabilities over the coming decade. This review helped catalyze a series of announcements by the Governor which included BoE drives to develop a world-class regulatory technology and data strategy, update the payments system for the digital age and facilitate firms' use of technology. It also led to the BoE deciding to become both the first central bank to undertake an exploratory climate change stress test for financial institutions and to manage its own portfolio on the basis established by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) as well as to promote the mainstreaming of disclosure standards for sustainable investing.

Van Steenis is regarded by investors and asset owners as an expert in the field of sustainable finance, a topic he speaks and writes about regularly. Before his time at the Bank of England, he was Global Head of Strategy at Schroders, where he served on the Group Management Committee. This followed senior roles at Morgan Stanley for 14 years, including Global Head Banks and Diversified Financials Research.

He currently serves on the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Future Council on Financial and Monetary Systems, and previously served on the WEF's Agenda Council for Financial Services and their fintech working group. He also served on the European Central Bank's Group on Macro-Prudential Policies and Financial Stability.

Van Steenis was educated at the University of Oxford and graduate business school INSEAD.