Research Officer - London, United Kingdom - ShareAction

ShareAction

Verified Company

London, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

ShareAction and the global system of finance

It is said that "money makes the world go around" but the global financial system in its current form is in danger of making our world a very inhospitable place for future generations.

Today, the global financial system has a huge impact on many of the existential challenges we face.

These include biodiversity loss, climate change and the growing gap between rich and poor in terms of both income and health.

Investment, lending, and insuring decisions can enable destructive and exploitative industries, or they can support a transition to a more sustainable way of living and use of precious resources.

ShareAction believes responsible investors must consider both social and environmental impacts as seriously as financial risk and return.

ShareAction's vision is of a world where the financial system serves our planet and its people.

Our mission is to define the highest standards of responsible investment and to drive change until these standards are adopted worldwide.

We work towards our mission by:
- advocating for change in the investment industry using our research and rankings
- campaigning with allies to strengthen investor stewardship and change corporate behaviour
- pushing for public policy reform to transform the financial system

ShareAction's Financial Sector Research team works towards holding financial institutions accountable for their impact on climate change, human rights, biodiversity, and other important issues.

A key part of this work is holding the asset management industry accountable for how they vote on environmental and social issues at the annual meetings of the companies in which they invest.

The asset management sector holds a huge amount of influence over the world's largest companies.

The largest four asset managers in the world alone, manage over $20 trillion in assets, greater than the entire GDP of the USA.

While many of these large asset managers publicly claim to be taking environmental and social issues seriously, often these claims do not hold up to scrutiny.

Position:

In this role, you will have many opportunities to challenge the asset management sector and financial sector more broadly by contributing to:

Our annual report on the voting behaviour of the world's largest asset managers.
A list of 'resolutions to watch' published ahead of the voting season.
Communication of our research findings in blogs or webinars

Working alongside seven other researchers, you would contribute to ShareAction's key reports ranking financial institutions.

This involves collecting information from institutions and databases, analysing quantitative and qualitative data, producing engaging graphics to communicate results and translating this analysis into actionable steps for financial institutions to take.

You would collaborate with teams across ShareAction and may join meetings with financial institutions, other NGOs, or regulators, to discuss this research.

We will ensure that you receive sufficient support and oversight to ensure you feel comfortable and knowledgeable in delivering this bold and challenging research.

This a very exciting time to be joining the team.

We are currently undertaking the third instalment of our comprehensive benchmark of the asset manager sector, which will sit alongside our asset manager voting report that you will be working on.

In this rapidly evolving field, we are looking for someone with excellent organisational and research skills, and passion to make a difference, to join our team.

Key responsibilities:_
Analysing quantitative and qualitative data, and writing reports on asset managers voting behaviour
Using Excel to analyse and organise large data sets
Presenting findings of our work to external and internal stakeholders, through blogs, presentations and webinars
Contributing to the development of a list of key shareholder resolutions for our 'resolutions to watch list', through research, external stakeholder consultation, and cross team collaboration
Communicating with financial institutions, inviting them to participate in our research and responding to queries
Communicating with, and attending meetings with civil society stakeholders
Supporting the wider Financial Sector Research team to deliver other pieces of research such as the asset manager and insurance sector benchmarks

Requirements:

Essential

Any kind of experience conducting research, either through study or work
An interest in how the financial sector works, and how financial institutions can have an impact on environmental and social issues
Excellent analytical skills and attention to detail
Excellent organisational skills
Strong communication skills in written and spoken English
Strong teamwork skills and ability to work collaboratively
A passion for ShareAction's vision and mission

Desirable