Georg Kell Announced as Vice Chairman-Designate of Arabesque Partners

LONDON, August 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Arabesque Partners, the Anglo-German asset management firm, is pleased to announce the appointment of Georg Kell as Vice Chairman-designate.  

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150828/261866 )

Subject to approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), he will join Arabesque's Board alongside Chairman Dr. Robert G. Eccles.

Georg Kell's arrival at Arabesque follows the end of a 15-year tenure as the founding Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative with over 8,000 corporate signatories from more than 160 countries. Through his leadership, Kell helped to establish the Global Compact as the foremost platform for the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible and sustainable corporate policies and practices.

In a career of more than 25 years at the United Nations, Mr. Kell also oversaw the conception and launch of the Global Compact's sister initiatives on investment, the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), and on education, the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), together with the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative.

Dr. Robert Eccles, Chairman of Arabesque, said: "We are absolutely delighted to welcome Georg Kell as Vice Chairman-designate, given the deep knowledge he brings on how capital markets can contribute to sustainable development.

"Georg has a unique understanding of companies' environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues around the globe. The integration of such nonfinancial information into Arabesque's quantitative models is at the core of our work. His many years of experience as the leader of the UN Global Compact will be invaluable to us."

On today's announcement, Georg Kell said: "I am very pleased to be joining Arabesque as Vice Chairman-designate. This is a company that represents the next generation in asset management, with a business model based on the recognition that long-term financial success, environmental stewardship, social responsibility and good governance go hand in hand.

"After spending most of my professional career building an ESG framework for companies, joining Arabesque seems the logical next step to help integrate this framework into portfolio management for the benefit of investors, corporations and all stakeholders alike."

Mr. Kell also noted that: "The outstanding performance of Arabesque's funds can be a potential catalyst for the global sustainability movement and a role model of how asset management might look in the future."

A native of Germany, Mr. Kell holds advanced degrees in economics and engineering from the Technical University Berlin. He started his career as a research fellow in engineering at the renowned Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Innovation in Berlin, and worked as a financial analyst in various countries in Africa and Asia before joining the United Nations in 1987. He will stay involved with the UN Global Compact in a senior advisory position.

Founder and CEO of Arabesque Partners, Omar Selim, said: "Georg Kell's appointment as Vice Chairman-designate is a seal of approval and a great honour for Arabesque. Our objective is to make sustainable investing attractive and available to mainstream investors. In Georg we not only have the architect of corporate sustainability but someone who can help us better understand ESG information."

Arabesque was recently named as SRI Manager of the Year at The Investment Excellence Awards 2015 organized by Global Investor, and ranks among the world's best performing funds in its peer group.

SOURCE Arabesque Partners