The Swiss private bank said it sees increasing social and environmental risks as well as opportunities for our clients’ portfolios from moves to a more green economy.

REYL Intesa Sanpaolo, the Swiss banking group majority-owned by Fideuram - Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking, has appointed Jon Duncan to develop and implement its impact strategy. Duncan is based in Geneva. 

Duncan has more than 24 years of professional experience in sustainability research and engagement, eleven of which have been in financial services. He was involved in drafting the South African Code for Responsible Investment, is a senior associate of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and has served on the UN PRI global reporting and assessment committee. Duncan has worked extensively across a range of global industrial sectors supporting organisations worldwide with strategic social, environmental and sustainability-related remits.

With his new role, Duncan will align and coordinate impact practices and tools across REYL Intesa Sanpaolo’s business lines, using the approach to impact measurement developed by Asteria Obviam: a high-tech proprietary impact and financial research platform using big data and machine learning. He will also work towards furthering the development of REYL Intesa Sanpaolo’s external stakeholder relationships with entities such as the UN PRI, GIIN (Global Impact Investing Network), SFG (Sustainable Finance Geneva) and SSF (Swiss Sustainable Finance).

“We see increasing social and environmental risks as well as opportunities for our clients’ portfolios from the green economy transition. We are strengthening our existing impact capacity with the appointment of a professional of the calibre of Jon Duncan, which builds on our full spectrum impact investing capability initiated with the launch of Asteria Obviam, our dedicated impact investing affiliate,” François Reyl, chief executive and partner of REYL Intesa Sanpaolo, said.