Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM) today announced the appointment of Dr Lorenzo Bernasconi as head of climate and environmental solutions.
The newly-created role is part of the firm’s continued effort to add sustainability expertise to support its holistic approach to climate transition objectives across its investment offering, including private markets.
Based in New York, Dr Bernasconi will use his industry expertise and experience to further develop LOIM’s range of products and solutions in the climate and nature-based solutions space. He started at the firm on 1 October.
Dr Bernasconi brings over two decades of experience in the investment and professional services industry, combined with deep knowledge of climate finance acquired through his professional and academic positions. With previous roles at UBS in London, and the Boston Consulting Group in New York and Paris, he most recently served as Managing Director of Innovative Finance at The Rockefeller Foundation in New York, where he managed the ‘Zero Gap’ portfolio, mobilising capital towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He is also founding board chair of Emergent Forest Finance Accelerator, a non-profit intermediary which most recently helped launch the LEAF Coalition, the largest ever public-private effort to protect tropical forests through the voluntary carbon markets. In addition, Lorenzo is a research fellow at Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance.
Dr Christopher Kaminker, group head of sustainable investment research and strategy at Lombard Odier said: “Lorenzo brings a rare blend of knowledge and experience that will support us immensely as we continue to expand our climate and natural capital offering across asset classes. Globally, investor appetite for natural climate solutions is surging and this is good news as 50% of our global economy depends on natural capital, and nature has the potential to deliver over a third of emissions reductions to 2030, if it is harnessed appropriately.”
