Personnel changes at US-based Ceres

Matt Moscardi, former Manager of Investment Programs at investor environmental coalition Ceres, has joinedMSCI as an environmental, social and governance (ESG) Analyst.

Moscardi had been responsible for developing low carbon investment programs for pension fund and asset manager members of the $8trn Investor Network on Climate Risk. Before joining Ceres in 2008, he founded a sustainability themed hedge fund called Smug Investments.

Last month index firm MSCI announced it would cut up to 80 staff as it absorbs its recent $1.55bn acquisition of risk management and ESG firm RiskMetrics.

Ceres’ spokesperson Meg Wilcox said Moscardi has been replaced by two new senior staff, Sue Burrows and Tracey Rembert.

Burrows was formerly Chief Administrative Officer of the State Treasury Department, Division of Investment, New Jersey.

She directed corporate governance, corporate engagement and policy initiatives.

Rembert was most recently a research analyst and corporate governance advocate at Pax World Management, researching ESG sustainability issues for US and international securities.

Ceres’ Investor Programs team is now headed by Chris Davis, the former head of the Environmental Law Practice at Goodwin Proctor, who joined this year.

Ceres is a coalition organisation which partners with more than 130 investor, environmental and public interest organizations. Among its investor partners are the California Public Employees Retirement System, California State Teachers Retirement System, the Florida State Board of Administration, Illinois State Board of Retirement and the Maryland State Retirement Agency, to name a few.

Corporate partners include firms such as Coca-Cola, Dell, eBay, Ford, Nike and General Motors.