Private equity firms, along with hedge funds, are significantly ramping up the amount they’re willing to pay specialists in sustainable finance, as a field once at the lower end of the pay scale moves closer to the top.
According to headhunters, a growing number of ESG specialists are now being propelled into a completely different income bracket from the one they inhabited just a few years ago. That’s as the market for environmental, social and governance assets hurtles past $35 trillion.
Emma Penny, a London-based partner at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, said a head of ESG can now command 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) in annual pay, with the lowest salaries at around 350,000 pounds. Penny also pointed to profit sharing as a remuneration model for top ESG roles as something that’s starting to appear in more contracts.
Blackstone still plans to build out its ESG team across renewable power and real estate, after already recruiting 12 people this year to focus on sustainability. Man Group Plc, the world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund with over a third of its roughly $140 billion under management dedicated to ESG, is now turning to experts in climate science and biodiversity to help it get ahead.
Read more/Source: The Middle Market
