US SIF Board Nominee: Daniel Hanson
Dan Hanson
I am Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager and Quality Equity Group Head with Neuberger Berman since January 2022, managing the firm’s flagship socially responsible Quality Equity mutual fund which was launched in 1994. I bring a 25+ year history of managing US and global equity institutional portfolios and have maintained a top quartile ESG track record dating back to 2006. I have been an advocate for sustainable investing for over 20 years.
Previously I was Chief Investment Officer NYSE-listed Waddell & Reed and Ivy Investments, responsible for leading an $80B AUM franchise. Previously, I served as Head of Impact Investing for JANA Partners. Prior to that role, I was Partner and Head of U.S. Equities, and Co-Chair of the Investment Strategy Committee with Jarislowsky Fraser Global Investment Management ($40B AUM). Earlier, I spent 10 years at BlackRock where in 2006 I launched and managed the firm’s first fundamental, active ESG strategy, and served as a voting member of the firm’s proxy committee, and co-manager on $30B AUM.
I am an active shareholder advocate, and have been involved in a number of initiatives in the area of governance, corporate reporting, and sustainable investing, and I believe that active shareholder engagement can drive both impact and positive alpha. I was a founding member of the board of directors of the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (“SASB") from 2011-2016, and created the SICS® classification system in 2012 (SASB Materiality Map®). Advisory and board roles have included UC Berkeley Law, Journal of Impact & ESG Investing, Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG), International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), Global Initiative for Sustainability Ratings (World Business Council for Sustainable Development), the IFRS International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Investor Advisory Group (IAG), and Drexel University’s Gupta Governance Institute.
I served on the professional faculty of the University of California-Berkeley Haas School of Business, where I taught sustainable investing from 2016-2019. In that role, I was a judge for the Moskowitz Research Prize, which recognizes outstanding quantitative research in sustainable and responsible investing. I have been a member of the Northwestern Kellogg Impact & Sustainable Finance Faculty Consortium since its founding in 2018. I am an author and contributor to various articles including "ESG Investing in Graham & Doddsville" in the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, "The 21st Century Investor: Ceres Blueprint for Sustainable Investing", and the "Impact Investing" chapter in Responsible Investing (Routledge, 2018). My article "The ‘Science’ and ‘Art’ of High Quality Investing" was winner of the IRRC Institute 2016 Practitioner Research Award presented at Columbia University's Millstein Governance Forum.
I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and French from Middlebury College, and earned an MBA, Accounting and Analytic Finance, from The University of Chicago. I am a CFA charter holder.
Election Statement
How have you been involved with US SIF, and for how long?
I first began attending the US SIF annual conference in 2006, and as longstanding advocate of sustainable investing and long-term stewardship, I have regularly attended the conference and supported US SIFs efforts as a leader in the field. I lead Neuberger Berman’s flagship dedicated socially responsible investment team, the Quality Equity Group, which has been a US SIF member and active supporter since being established in 1989.
What is your motivation for running for the US SIF board? Feel free to talk about your vision of US SIF, as well as what you think you will bring in terms of talents, skills, commitment.
With the mainstreaming of ESG, more than ever US SIF’s expertise and credibility can provide an important leadership voice. The increased complexity, varying definitions, and politicization of ESG has created challenges for investors and asset-owners, which US SIF is uniquely situated to address and clarify. This opportunity and imperative for US SIF to lead has increased with the “ESG backlash” and policy pushback of late.
My vision is to support US SIF in building on its strong heritage, to collaborate and drive positive impact as an advocate for the next generation of sustainable investing. I would be pleased to bring my experience to bear to leverage US SIF’s strong position so that US SIF can continue to take an active leadership voice.
How do you feel your participation will help advance the work and strategic priorities of US SIF?
As an institutional investor I have delivered an investment record of serving clients through the use of ESG, and I can speak credibly to the importance of ESG and stewardship in positive investment outcomes. I believe my experience in the ever-evolving arena of reporting in particular could be helpful, as well as my experience serving with mission-driven organizations supporting the use of ESG information in investing. This is a forceful rebuttal to the “anti-ESG” voices.
I believe that I can work collaboratively to help advance US SIF’s strategic priorities. US SIF can effectively bring the voice of tenured users of ESG information for positive outcomes, to an arena crowded with new entrants. In many cases ESG data and KPIs without context or guiding philosophies creates noise rather than information and undermines the adoption of credible ESG investing approaches. US SIF can provide leadership and examples of improved investor and asset-owner outcomes through the use of ESG.