Andrus joins Franklin Templeton from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), where he served as the Interim Managing Investment Director for Sustainable Investing and led CalPERS’ sustainable investment strategy across its US$443 billion1 investment portfolio.

“James is deeply experienced in corporate governance and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the effective management of financial, human and natural capital to Franklin Templeton,” said Anne Simpson, Franklin Templeton’s Global Head of Sustainability. “We are committed to building dedicated resources as the profound evolution and increasing complexities related to sustainable investing continue in the industry globally. I am delighted for James to join our growing team as we accelerate our efforts in this important area.”

Based in California, Andrus will oversee execution of Franklin Templeton’s sustainability and stewardship initiatives and serve as an advocate and spokesperson with clients, external organizations, policymakers, regulators and internal stakeholders. He will manage the firm’s Global Sustainability Strategy Team, which implements the firm’s sustainable investment strategy and consists of professionals located across Europe, Asia and the United States with additional recruitment underway for data, content, stewardship and product roles. He will also work closely with the firm’s Global Public Policy team.

Andrus will report to Simpson, who is responsible for the firm’s overall strategic direction on stewardship and sustainable investment in her role of Global Head of Sustainability. Simpson reports to Jenny Johnson, CEO and President of Franklin Templeton.

“I am excited by the opportunity to join Franklin Templeton, a world-renowned global investment firm with dynamic leaders, at an important point in time to focus on sustainability,” said Andrus. “I look forward to adding value by advancing the sustainable investment priorities and contributing directly to global regulation and policy initiatives while emphasising enhanced financial information.”

Andrus brings deep industry and regulatory knowledge from his diverse background. Most recently, in serving as Interim Managing Investment Director for Sustainable Investing at CalPERS, he advocated for transparency in the financial markets at the national and international levels to ensure that investors like CalPERS have appropriate regulatory environments for investing their assets. Prior to CalPERS, he was a partner at K&L Gates, a global law firm.

Andrus is an experienced advocate for asset owners as a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Investor Advisory Committee, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Investor Advisory Group, Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC) and the International Financial Reporting Standards Advisory Council. He is also co-chair of the Financial Capital Committee of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), representing investors overseeing approximately US$70 trillion.2 In March 2023, Andrus was a recipient of ICGN’s Excellence in Corporate Governance Award. Andrus is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council, a national organization comprising current and former Black CEOs and senior executives at Fortune 1000 and Global 500 companies.3

Andrus is a former U.S. Army officer and a graduate of West Point. He received his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.

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Notes:
[1] California Public Employees’ Retirement System assets under management as of March 14, 2023. Source: https://www.calpers.ca.gov/page/investments
[2] International Corporate Governance Network. Source: https://www.icgn.org/
[3] The Executive Leadership Council. Source: https://www.elcinfo.com/what-we-do/

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In addition to announcing that the firm met its 2021 commitments, the 2022 report details Franklin Templeton’s progress on the firm’s six dimensions of CSR – stewardship and sustainable investing; diversity and inclusion (D&I); environment and climate; employee experience; community engagement; and responsible corporate practices – and outlines new priorities for the 2022 fiscal year.

The firm also reported sustainability results using two widely used disclosure frameworks, the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Franklin Templeton reported using SASB standards previously and has expanded its reporting to include the GRI Index in this latest report.

“Our CSR accomplishments are a testament to our commitment to progress, which is at the heart of everything we do at Franklin Templeton. As the firm celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2022, we will continue to build upon our CSR achievements while employing the highest standards in the way we operate our firm and invest on behalf of our clients,” said Jenny Johnson, President and CEO of Franklin Templeton. “Looking forward, our CSR commitments and expanded reporting affirm our promise to our stakeholders to continually improve and evolve.”

“Franklin Templeton’s CSR goals outline the firm’s commitment to sustainability, which addresses our responsibilities for taking care of people, the planet and prosperity. For investors, these are the key factors that foster long-term risk-adjusted returns: financial, human and natural. The tremendous challenges and opportunities these bring through issues like climate change, diversity, equity and inclusion, drive the strategic priorities for our organization and investment teams going forward,” said Anne Simpson, Global Head of Sustainability for Franklin Templeton.

“We will be focused not only on our corporate sustainability efforts, which include reducing the organisation’s greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing our reporting infrastructure, but also expanding our stewardship and sustainable investing practices across our global investment portfolios.”

Major 2021 CSR achievements

• Stewardship & Sustainable Investing: In July 2021, Franklin Templeton, along with its specialist investment managers ClearBridge Investments, Brandywine Global and Martin Currie, joined the industry-leading Net Zero Asset Managers initiative in support of its goal to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 or sooner. Over the past year, the firm also launched its Stewardship and Sustainability Council and appointed Anne Simpson as its first Global Head of Sustainability.
• Diversity & Inclusion: In 2021, the firm published expanded gender and ethnicity representation data and developed a global D&I strategy to diversify talent at all levels. It partnered with organizations and educational institutions to recruit from underrepresented groups and contributed to the Financial Alliance for Racial Equity (FARE) CFP® (Certified Financial Planner) Board scholarship for aspiring CFP® professionals of color.
• Environment & Climate: The company’s energy reduction initiatives and remote work policies led to a reduction in emissions of approximately 57% since 2007, its baseline year, despite significant expansion of our business due to organic growth and acquisitions. In 2021, Franklin Templeton also expanded Scope 3 emissions reporting, set an emissions target and established an enterprise-level Environmental Committee to further advance green initiatives and drive innovation.

“At Franklin Templeton, we understand that CSR is not only good for our communities and our world, but it is also good business practice,” said Kristin Kosmides, Head of Global Citizenship. “Our firm made exceptional progress on our CSR goals in 2021, despite the challenging pandemic environment, and we have identified opportunities for making further strides in 2022. Going forward, we will execute on our expanded goals while continuing to closely engage with our key stakeholders to inform and evolve our work.”

Franklin Templeton established goals and key priorities for fiscal year 2022 within the following focus areas:

Key 2022 CSR commitments

• Stewardship & Sustainable Investing: Franklin Templeton will disclose climate-related risks and opportunities in alignment with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, an industry best practice. The firm will also advance initiatives within our commitment to the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAMI).
• Diversity & Inclusion: Over the coming year, the firm will continue to integrate inclusive hiring practices, including putting forward diverse slates of candidates for senior positions. The firm will implement initiatives aimed at providing access and opportunities for underserved entrepreneurs, businesses and suppliers. Additionally, Franklin Templeton employees are setting individual diversity goals in 2022.
• Environment & Climate: The firm will complete third-party verification for scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, review and update its GHG inventory process and review building management systems globally for efficiency and emissions reduction opportunities.
• Employee Experience: The firm will complete development of its employee value proposition to reflect the employee experience and Franklin Templeton brand.
• Community Engagement:Franklin Templeton will work to further refine its charitable foundation focus areas with stakeholders and refresh the firm’s global volunteerism program, Involved.
• Responsible Corporate Practices: The firm will continue to expand and scale cybersecurity effectiveness testing.

Read the full report.

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Simpson joins the firm from the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), where she served as Managing Investment Director for Board Governance & Sustainability, leading the development and execution of CalPERS’ award-winning Sustainable Investment Strategy across a global portfolio of US$500 billion^[1] with 80% of assets internally managed.

She will report to President and CEO Jenny Johnson and join the firm on 22 February 2022, based in California.

“A hire of this prominence demonstrates our commitment to being a global leader in stewardship and sustainability, which acknowledges that our choices as responsible investors have a profound effect on the world and its future,” said Johnson. “We are confident that Anne’s expertise and leadership will take our firm-wide efforts on sustainable investing to the next level. While the strength of our organisation lies with the breadth and autonomy of our specialist investment managers, we also recognise that an organisation of our scale can have a major impact by working collectively on sustainability issues. We are thrilled to have Anne leading our efforts in this critically important area.”

Simpson commented “I am delighted to join Franklin Templeton, a world-renowned investment firm with a 75-year track record shaped by strong values, innovation and long-term conviction. I look forward to being part of its next phase of growth and evolution in sustainable investing. 2021 was a year in which the asset management industry reckoned with sustainability challenges and the opportunities these bring across global markets. There is new momentum in finance, driven by policymakers in leading European markets, net zero commitments from COP 26 and broad recognition of investors’ role in driving progress on sustainable investing, including important areas like diversity, equity and inclusion, to foster shared prosperity.”

Simpson added, “I’m truly inspired by Jenny’s vision as a third-generation family leader of Franklin Templeton who brings personal commitment to the stewardship and sustainability agenda. I am excited to begin working closely with Jenny, her executive team, and the firm’s accomplished specialist investment managers, to implement the company’s sustainable investing priorities.”

Simpson brings wide-ranging international expertise to this new position at Franklin Templeton. At CalPERS, she served as a member of its Investment Management Committee, which determines asset liability management, capital allocation, risk management and operations across global public equity, fixed income, private equity, private credit, real assets and infrastructure. In addition, she served as the inaugural Chair of Climate Action 100+ and its Asia Advisory Group, a global investor alliance of US$60 trillion which CalPERS convened and co-founded. Simpson also has led the CalPERS investment office diversity, equity and inclusion business initiative, including the founding of 3D (Diverse Director DataSource).

Prior to joining CalPERS, Simpson was a Senior Faculty Fellow and Lecturer at the Yale School of Management, Head of the Global Corporate Governance Forum at the World Bank, Executive Director of the International Corporate Governance Network and Joint Managing Director of Pensions and Investment Research Consultants (PIRC) Ltd.

In 2019, she was named by Time Magazine as one of the 15 women leading the global fight on climate change and in 2020 one of the 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance by Barron’s (Dow Jones). For 11 consecutive years from 2010-21, Anne has been ranked by the National Association of Corporate Directors as one of the year’s 100 most influential people in the boardroom.

Simpson also brings experience in the international regulatory and policy arena. She served on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s Investor Advisory Group and the International Financial Reporting Standards Advisory Council. She is an advisory council member for the Official Monetary Financial Institutions Forum, a board member at Ceres and serves on the Leadership Council for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.

Simpson has published several books in the field, including “The Financial Ecosystem: The Role of Finance in Achieving Sustainability” with Satyajit Bose and Dong Guo of Columbia University (Palgrave MacMillan) and “Fair Shares: The Future of Shareholder Power and Responsibility” with Jonathan Charkham (Oxford University Press).

She graduated from Oxford University in the United Kingdom, where she read Politics, Philosophy and Economics, received bachelor’s and master’s degrees and was a Slater Fellow at Wellesley College, Massachusetts.

Simpson was recently appointed a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University by the Chancellor and teaches at University of California, Berkeley Haas Business School as a Lecturer in Sustainable and Impact Finance.

Franklin Templeton’s commitment to sustainability

As an active manager, Franklin Templeton is proud to offer a wide range of sustainable solutions, and believes its scale allows it to invest in the critical technology that will help each of its boutique managers evaluate investments through an ESG lens. Franklin Templeton is committed to advancing ESG and sustainable investing goals while making sure these investments are productive, profitable and make an impact.

Franklin Templeton has identified climate change as a key strategic priority for the firm and has made commitments to the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAMI).

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[1] CalPERS AUM – https://www.calpers.ca.gov/page/investments

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