BlackRock has named Louise Kooy-Henckel as the new head of its sustainable and transition solutions team across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).
Kooy-Henckel joins from Wellington Management, where she managed the firm’s EMEA sustainable investing product platform for nearly seven years until June 2023. Prior to that, she spent almost two decades at JPMorgan Asset Management, including a tenure as head of its global equities client portfolio management team.
Based in London, she will report to Helen Lees-Jones, BlackRock’s global head of sustainable and transition solutions.
In a memo announcing her appointment, BlackRock’s chief product officer Stephen Cohen and Lees-Jones highlighted Kooy-Henckel’s extensive experience in asset management and sustainable investing. “Louise has developed specialist knowledge during her 25-year career, working across asset classes and with a broad set of investors in the UK, Europe, and beyond,” they said. “She brings to BlackRock strong product development experience across public and private markets.”
Transition investments focus on sectors facilitating the shift to a low-carbon economy, such as clean energy. Cohen and Lees-Jones noted that EMEA represents the region “where client demand for sustainable and transition investing is greatest.” A 2023 BlackRock survey of 200 global institutions found that 56% planned to increase or expected to increase their allocation to transition strategies over a three-year period.
