Australian Retirement Trust (ART) has appointed Tim Unger, who joins after more than 20 years at consultancy WTW.
Unger will work as a senior portfolio manager in its sustainable investment team of the $260 billion fund.
He joins ART from WTW where he worked for 22 years, most recently as head of sustainable investment, Australia.
ART head of sustainable investment, Nicole Bradford, said: “Tim’s talents and expertise will be a great asset to the team. He will be instrumental in driving a number of strategic priorities forward including our Net Zero 2050 Roadmap.”
The appointment comes following ART’s announcement to expand its sustainable investments team by eight, doubling in size. This includes two portfolio analysts and six portfolio managers.
Bradford said: “We are looking to grow our team to further drive implementation of ESG and climate change activities across our investment portfolio, as well as build out and deliver a number of areas of focus the Fund is undertaking. That’s what my team are focussed on supporting, so it’s an exciting time to be at the heart of something that is very member-focussed.
“As a systemic risk, if climate change is left unabated, it will impact the global economy. This means that to act in members’ best financial interests and help protect their future financial wellbeing, funds should be considering climate change alongside other traditional financial matters throughout all aspects of the investment process.
“What we also know is that members are becoming more conscious of ESG issues and there is a growing demand to understand how their retirement savings are meeting sustainable objectives.”
Last week, ART chief executive Bernard Reilly announced he will be stepping down as CEO of the fund from February 2024. Reilly was the former chief executive of Sunsuper prior to the merger with QSuper in February 2022.
