Scottish Widow head of responsible investments and stewardship Maria Nazarova-Doyle is leaving the firm after nearly four years.
Nazarova-Doyle announced her departure on a Linkedin post, where she highlighted several achievements during her tenure at the firm, including implementing an exclusions policy that resulted in divestments of £3bn from companies that did not meet the firm’s ESG criteria.
Additionally, she spearheaded the development of an industry-first Climate Action Plan, which established targets and transparent reporting to guide the firm’s journey towards net zero investments. Nazarova-Doyle also played a role in building an active stewardship strategy, incorporating voting overlays in pooled funds to drive responsible investing.
During her tenure the firm launched an ESG pensions app that enables customers to assess the non-financial impacts of their pension investments. She was also involved in developing nearly £2bn worth of new investment mandates encompassing various themes such as fossil-fuel-free impact, self-decarbonising strategies, biodiversity.
She previously served as a principal and market engagement leader at Mercer, overseeing the DC & individual wealth division. Her main role involved devising and executing a market engagement strategy to expand Mercer’s market share in DC consulting, financial planning, and master trust services.
Nazarova-Doyle says: “The biggest highlight for me is undoubtedly the people. Warm, friendly, collaborative and with a wicked sense of humour.
“I’m confident that the team at SW will continue what I started and will go from strength to strength. I’ll be following this journey with great interest and pride.
“Every ending is a new beginning and I’m very excited about my next challenge, which I’ll announce in due course.”