Dimensional appoints new responsible investment head

Dimensional Fund Advisors, the global systematic factor investor, has appointed Jim Whittington as head of responsible investment, replacing Joe Chi who will retire at the end of the year.

The firm also named Lacey Huebel as head of responsible investment, North America.

Both appointments are effective 1 November.

Previously, Whittington served as a senior portfolio manager in the firm's London office, in addition to his work as a member of Dimensional's Investment Stewardship Committee. For years, he has been on the front lines of Dimensional's ESG initiatives in Europe, the Middle East.

Previously, Whittington had been a senior portfolio manager and vice president at the firm's London office. He was also a member of the asset manager's investment stewardship committee.

Before that, that he had worked at J.P. Morgan and Merill Lynch.

Like Whittington, Huebel brings a wealth of knowledge to her new role, having managed the firm's social and sustainable fixed income portfolios since their inception. In addition to her new role, Huebel will continue to serve as Portfolio Manager and Vice President.

Dimensional co-chief executive and investment chief Gerard O'Reilly, said: "These appointments will further our decades-long commitment to sustainability.

"For nearly 20 years, we have managed robustly commingled ESG investment solutions on behalf of clients.

"During that time, informed by the work of leading academics and climate scientists, we conducted extensive research into ESG considerations, developed a reliable approach to analysing and integrating ESG data, built innovative strategies that take environmental and social considerations into account, and designed a systematic approach that enables effective stewardship activities for portfolios that hold thousands of companies."