A clutch of real estate companies have made high-profile appointments for new sustainability roles – a sign of the growing importance the industry is placing on addressing the challenges around environmental, social and governance issues.
Matthew Evans, a director at real estate recruitment firm the Management Recruitment Group, said an industry-wide focus on the ESG talent pool has been apparent since early last year and shows little sign of lessening.
“We are seeing agents, investors, property companies and the public sector investing heavily in it,” Evans said. “The competition for talent is strong across all sectors as more companies prioritise these criteria, and we have seen that candidates are influenced and motivated by the corporate ESG strategy of the organisations they are joining.”
Lambert Smith Hampton has hired a former WeWork executive as its head of sustainability and ESG, with chief executive Ezra Nahome acknowledging “a growing collective recognition that we need to get a grip on our environmental and social obligations”.
Federico Montella will design ESG policy and help to set sustainability targets for the business, which has committed to achieving net-zero carbon status by 2030, and will also advise clients. He spent two years with WeWork as its first lead for ESG in the EMEA region.
Montella takes up the mantle from Frankie Demetriades, who moved to Fiera Real Estate in December to join the UK sustainability team. Fiera has now created a new global role to lead on ESG, promoting Jessica Pilz to the post. She joined the company in 2020 to oversee its sustainability strategy in the UK, but will now lead on initiatives in Canada as well.
Richard Dansereau, president and global head of Fiera Real Estate, said: “We recognise the impact that we, and our managed funds, have on our planet, people and communities, and believe that as a global real estate firm we are in a unique position to drive real change across our sector.”
Other companies to boost their focus on sustainability with recent hires and promotions include Europa Capital, which has created the role of head of sustainability and development, and promoted development director Lynn Smith to take the post; PGIM Real Estate, which hired Julie Townsend, CBRE’s former head of environmental consultancy, as its ESG lead in Europe and Asia; and Prologis, which hired Susan Uthayakumar as its first chief sustainability and energy officer.
Last week, the British Property Federation confirmed that Katherine Sherwin, global head of real assets and sustainable investing at BlackRock, has stepped up to chair its 34-strong Sustainability Committee, taking over from Richard Quartermaine, environmental manager at Hammerson.
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