Ally McDonald, CEO of Boston Common Asset Management, joined Rosemont CEO Chas Burkhart on the latest edition of the Global Investment Leaders podcast. From her perspective leading the $5 billion* employee-owned, ESG-focused, active global equities manager, McDonald discusses how a commitment to people, purpose and the planet can benefit society and shareholders alike.
With extensive experience in traditional investment settings, McDonald has become an accomplished leader in the ESG investing space. Starting her career in financial services in marketing and sales, McDonald moved into leadership roles, which led to an opportunity to focus on philanthropy and investing. Proving to be a pivotal experience, it was through her leadership role at Fidelity Charitable that McDonald fully embraced her passion for “doing well by doing good” and honed her skills for creating efficiencies and growing businesses with impact.
“I decided that the intersection of investing and social good is where I was going to spend the rest of my career,” McDonald tells Burkhart. “I made a personal commitment to use my skills, experiences and anything I can bring to the table to help deploy more capital toward social good.”
Throughout the conversation, McDonald shares her insights on:
- The growth Boston Common has experienced as interest in ESG has grown, demand for authentic ESG managers has risen, and endowments and foundations have placed increased emphasis on aligning their work with their investments
- How Boston Common weaves ESG factors into its investment process and its company DNA
- Leading the firm as a woman and how having a truly diverse workforce creates a competitive advantage
- How everyone can contribute to increasing female presence in the leadership pipeline in the male-dominated investment industry
- The importance of being authentic in the ESG and impact world as interest increases and green-washing is becoming ever-more prevalent
- The ownership decision that allowed Boston Common to remain both a majority employee-owned and female-owned firm
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*AUA at time of episode release