“Most CSOs will tell you that the work of a CSO is very varied; you need to be a lot of different things,” says Tan. “You need to be a sustainability evangelist across many different topics, which include, obviously, things like climate change, nature loss or diversity in the workplace [and] so on. You need, increasingly these days, to be quite good at interpreting and implementing regulation because that’s a lot of the direction of travel for sustainability.”
Pragmatism is the name of the game in sustainability, says Jenn-Hui Tan, chief sustainability officer (CSO) at Fidelity International. A year into his C-suite level role — and his 16th year with the investment manager — Tan espouses the importance of pragmatism within and without the company. “That’s probably the theme of sustainability for this year. How do you apply sustainability to the changing investment and macroeconomic environment?”
Tan, who had been based in Singapore since 2011, shifted to the UK in August 2023 following his new appointment. Formerly the global head of stewardship and sustainable investing, the “additional piece” added to Tan’s plate “is the sustainability of our own business”, he says.
