Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager announced that Daniel Hanson, CFA, joined the firm today and will become Head of the U.S. Sustainable Equity team effective April 1, 2022. Mr. Hanson brings more than twenty-five years of experience as a pioneering environmental, social and governance (ESG) investor and thought leader, bolstering the firm’s current, industry leading ESG efforts.

Ingrid S. Dyott and Sajjad Ladiwala, CFA, Co-Portfolio Managers for the Neuberger Berman Sustainable Equity Fund (NBSLX)(“Fund”), have announced their intentions to retire from the firm. To ensure a smooth transition, Ms. Dyott and Mr. Ladiwala will work with Mr. Hanson until their respective retirement dates of December 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022.

Mr. Hanson will become Senior Portfolio Manager for the Fund and group head with investment discretion and full fiduciary responsibilities on April 1, 2022. He will be supported by the current U.S. Sustainable Equity team, consisting of seven professionals with average industry experience of 17 years, deep domain expertise and long-standing experience in ESG investing. The team also leverages Neuberger Berman’s Global Equity Research Department of 51 analysts and its ESG Investing team of 13 individuals. The U.S. Sustainable Equity team manages $5.5bn (as of December 31, 2021).

Joseph Amato, President and Chief Investment Officer, Equities, Neuberger Berman said, “Dan has been an acknowledged leader in sustainable investing and has a long history of strong investment performance. We thank Ingrid and Sajjad for all they have done for this franchise and for our clients. They have been great partners and have been instrumental in making Neuberger Berman the recognized ESG leader that we are.”

At the start of 2023, Ms. Dyott will continue her 25-year association with the firm by joining its ESG Advisory Council. Ms. Dyott remarked, “I’m looking forward to this next stage in my career, focusing on philanthropic endeavors to fuel my passion for sustainability and impact.”

Doug Kramer, Head of Institutional Equities & Multi-Asset Class, Neuberger Berman added, “We are excited to have Dan Hanson assume leadership responsibilities for our U.S. Sustainable Equity franchise. We’ve known Dan for many years given our mutual engagement in the ESG industry and have a common vision for the future. Dan will lead the franchise—one which helped pioneer the modern ESG industry even before this Fund’s inception in 1994.”

Mr. Hanson spent 10 years at BlackRock where he managed the firm’s first large, fundamental active ESG strategy, the BlackRock Socially Responsible Equity strategy. Hanson joins Neuberger Berman from Waddell & Reed, Inc. and Ivy Investments, where he was Chief Investment Officer, responsible for $75 billion in client assets. He previously served as Head of Impact Investing for JANA Partners. Prior to that role, he was Partner and Head of U.S. Equities, and Co-Chair of the Investment Strategy Committee overseeing $30 billion in assets with Jarislowsky Fraser Global Investment Management. He also was an investment banker at Bear Stearns earlier in his career.

Mr. Hanson is a founding board member of the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”) in 2011 and pioneered the SASB Materiality Map(R) in 2012. Mr. Hanson served on the faculty at the University of California-Berkeley Haas School of Business, where he taught sustainable investing from 2016-2019, and he has been a member of the Northwestern Kellogg Impact & Sustainable Finance Faculty Consortium since its founding in 2018. Mr. Hanson is a recipient of the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute (IRRCi) research award and has served as a judge for the Moskowitz Research Prize, recognizing outstanding quantitative research in sustainable and responsible investing. Mr. Hanson received his bachelor’s degree in Economics and French from Middlebury College, and earned an MBA, Accounting and Analytic Finance, from The University of Chicago. He is a CFA charterholder.

Mr. Hanson said, “I’m honored to assume portfolio management duties from Ingrid and Sajjad and look forward to continuing with them throughout the year, along with the terrific team in further building this franchise. We will continue to manage the strategy for the long term, seeking high quality, sustainable businesses, and authentically integrating ESG through our own bottom-up analysis. Neuberger Berman’s commitment to ESG leadership and engaged ownership is highly aligned with my own investment philosophy and stewardship approach. I’m excited to join a firm that truly believes in the role of ESG as a material driver to performance. I’m also looking forward to joining Neuberger Berman’s ESG Committee and contributing to the industry-leading NB Votes initiative, as well as executing on our firmwide Net Zero pledge.”