Aegon Asset Management (AAM) announced that it has made new additions to its Responsible Investment Team, and has promoted Miranda Beacham as the team’s Senior Responsible Investment Manager, leading Aegon Asset Management’s Edinburgh-based Responsible Investment specialists. Aegon also hired Retno Kusumaningtyas as a Senior Responsible Investment Associate, and Georgina Laird as a Sustainable Investment Analyst, bringing the team to 13 members.

In her new role of Senior Responsible Investment Manager, Beacham will be responsible for leading the stewardship activities in the UK. She will also focus on supporting ESG research and responsible investment solutions for AAM’s equity investment platform. Beacham has been with Kames Capital, part of Aegon, for 25 years, most recently as Corporate Governance Manager. In December 2019, Aegon announced that Kames will be fully integrated into AAM this year.

Kusumaningtyas’ new position will be based in the Hague, where she will work on ESG and impact research for the firm’s Fixed Income Investment Platform and will support its new ESG partnership with ABN AMRO. She is joining AAM from Profundo Research and Advice, an Amsterdam-based consultancy firm, where she was a Natural Resources Management Expert, responsible for conducting research and advising clients on topics such as responsible business and sustainable financing. She has a doctoral degree from Kyoto University, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Center of Southeast Asian Studies of Kyoto University exploring solutions for equitable partnerships between smallholders and large companies.

Beacham and Kusumaningtyas will report to Brunno Maradei, Global Head of Responsible Investment.

Laird will be based in Edinburgh, and report to Beacham. In her new role, she will be responsible for monitoring and analyzing ESG factors within the company’s Global Sustainable Equity strategy. Laird joins from Uniting Ethical Investors in Australia, where she was Ethics and Impact Manager. Before moving to Australia, Laird was part of Kames Capital’s ESG Research team from 2017. She has a BSc in Mathematics from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

Maradei said:

“Miranda’s expertise has played a key role in the evolution of our responsible investment capabilities, including the development of our ethical strategies, engaging and voting on our active equity positions, driving ESG integration across investment processes and the development of our Global Sustainable Equity strategy.

“Both Retno and Georgina are experienced responsible investment specialists with wide-reaching skills and knowledge. We are delighted to have Georgina back and to welcome Retno to the Aegon Asset Management team.”