James Gifford, who founded and led the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), has resigned.
Gifford, who has served as the executive director of PRI since it began in 2006, will continue in his role until November, while the PRI association board and PRI advisory board meet to appoint a successor. The boards scheduled their first meeting on the topic for late September in Cape Town, South Africa.
Gifford, who also worked between 2003 and 2006 to create PRI, has been at the core of the organization for 10 years.
‘In the decade I’ve been working on this initiative, responsible investment has grown dramatically and I believe the PRI has played an important role in that growth, and will continue to do so,’ Gifford says in a statement about his resignation.
‘It has been an amazing experience to see the initiative go from an idea to a global organization with more than 1,200 signatories, trillions of dollars signed up and meaningful implementation of the principles within the industry. It is now time for me to take on the next big challenge.’
Gifford did not say what he will do after his resignation. Through his decade with PRI, Gifford has helped expand the organization from its original 100 signatories with combined assets of $5 tn to its current membership of 1,200 organizations, including 759 asset managers worldwide, with combined assets of $30 tn.
‘We are sad to see James leave and I would like to thank him for his inspired leadership of the PRI initiative,’ says Glen Saunders, chairman of the PRI association board, in a press release.
‘He has been a visionary for the organization and the responsible investment industry. He is leaving the PRI on a solid footing. We have a clear strategy, strong support in the industry, an experienced team, and a lot of momentum for delivering the PRI’s mission.’
