San Lie is to succeed Bas-Jan Blom as Chairman of the Management Board of ASN Impact Investors, the asset management arm of Dutch retail bank ASN. Lie has been head of portfolio management of the asset manager, which has approximately 4.7 billion euro under management, since autumn 2019. “We have formulated ambitious targets for 2030. The central question now is how we are going to get there,” says Lie.
The handover from Bas-Jan Blom to San Lie (pictured), as of 1 March, is a transition between two people with a long track record in investment services. Lie previously was head of research for Morningstar Benelux and head of investment advice at ABN Amro.
For the past 15 years, Blom has been fulfilling the ambitions of ASN Impact Investors in the area of (sustainable) investments. A biologist by background, he said that he “enjoyed his work and is now returning to nature”. In saying this, he is leaving the investment world.
Laughing stock
In a video call in which Blom was also present, Lie said that the latter ‘ “deserves a statue” for everything he has done for ASN and for the sector. Together with Triodos, ASN was one of the pioneers of sustainable development in the Dutch investment world. Blom confirms this.
“When I started and went to meetings dominated by the large international fund houses, I was laughed at when I came to tell my story. Now they are pushing to show how sustainable they are and one presents itself even greener than the other,” he said.
Lie says that ASN Impact Investors is a “healthy organisation has been built that can grow further”. The goals that have been formulated for 2030 are in the field of climate, biodiversity and human rights. To endorse that ambition, the name was changed to ASN Impact Investors last year. The challenge will be how to remain a frontrunner, while at the same time not wanting to grow for growth’s sake, he said.
More focus on communication
‘It would be better for the climate and the sustainability of the economy and society if the sector caught up with us. But I do not expect that to happen for the time being. In that respect I see more than enough right to exist for ASN Impact Investors,” said Blom, acknowledging that the asset management world is increasingly about scale, but he s convinced that a small player can still distinguish itself with innovation and a distinctive fund offering.
In that respect, Lie and Blom also both see the importance for ASN Impact Investors of more communication and marketing. “That is more in San’s DNA than mine,” said Blom.
Although ASN Impact Investors is small, Blom said that it is recognized as as an authority that it is regularly asked to participate in initiatives and projects undertaken by other parties. “They are often so eager to have us participate that we can also get in for smaller amounts,” he said.
Pension funds are ‘lazy investors’
Talking about ‘getting in’, Blom is critical of pension funds. “They shout a lot about sustainability, but in practice it is very difficult for them to take the step. They are big, they have a long-term vision for their investments and yet, from an impact perspective, I find them lazy investors. They should be called to account more often for that.”
At his forthcoming departure, Bas-Jan Blom is proud of the biodiversity fund launched at the end of last year. For the time being, pension funds continue to look on. Unwise, thinks Blom. He points out that more and more wood is being used in new buildings, because wood holds carbon dioxie.
“Look, when you have a five-year investment horizon, investing in biodiversity or forestry may be difficult, but with a horizon of 20 to 30 years, it is definitely lucrative,” he said.