Responsible Investment
Shaping investing for a changing world
Canadian companies make decent policy commitments to respect human rights, but implementation is still lacking.
This is one of the findings of BMO GAM’s latest RI Deep Dive research report Respect and Protect: The State of Corporate Human Rights Due Diligence in Canada.
How we approach responsible investing at BMO GAM
ESG Integration
Five-Star Rating
*****
Stewardship
Climate Action
Social Equality
Latest Insights


Seeing the Forest through the Trees – How Investors Can Assess Biodiversity Risk


Why Climate Action Matters for Investors


Assuring Earth – How mandatory climate disclosure moves us closer to a sustainable future
As part of our investment process, we recognize the importance of leaving no stone unturned when evaluating investment opportunities for our clients and fundamentally believe the value of sustainability practices. We explore these considerations in some of our investment processes, particularly when developing ESG-oriented investment solutions.

Featured Investments
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors measure the sustainability attributes of a company or industry’s business activities. More and more, we are understanding how these factors can have material implications for financial performance and investor returns. Investors are increasingly seeking out ESG investment options to both mitigate risk and generate opportunities. Following are a few BMO funds that can provide ESG investment opportunities to investors.
BMO Sustainable Opportunities Global Equity Fund
Active equity mutual funds
Selects an active, high conviction portfolio of global equities based on a responsible investing approach.
BMO Sustainable Opportunities Canadian Equity Fund
Active equity mutual fund
ESGG - BMO MSCI Global ESG Leaders Index ETF
Passive equity ETF
ESGY - BMO MSCI USA ESG Leaders Index ETF
Passive equity ETF
Replicates the MSCI USA ESG Leaders Index that includes equities with high ESG performance relative to their sector peers.
ZESG - BMO Balanced ESG ETF
Multi-asset passive ETF
Builds a 60/40 portfolio by selecting equity and fixed income ETFs based on a responsible investing approach.
BMO Sustainable Growth Portfolio
Multi-asset active mutual fund
Builds a 80/20 portfolio by selecting equity and fixed income ETFs and mutual funds based on a responsible investing approach.
There is no denying that ESG considerations are mainstream risks that are multi-faceted and pervasive throughout society. Our Responsible Investment strategy aims to mitigate these risks and capitalize on opportunities for investors, paving the way to a sustainable future for all.

People Spotlight

Rosa van den Beemt
Rosa leads BMO GAM’s Stewardship approach, such as engagement with investee companies, proxy voting and public policy advocacy on ESG topics to create positive long-term change on behalf of end clients. She actively represents BMO GAM at industry collaborations and memberships, including on the Advisory Council of the Investor Alliance for Human Rights, the Environmental & Social Committee of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, the Steering Committee of Climate Engagement Canada and the Leadership Council of the Responsible Investment Association. Prior to BMO GAM, Rosa worked at NEI Investments where she led their proxy voting program and various corporate engagement initiatives. With approximately 10 years in the responsible investment space, Rosa has extensive experience in North American corporate governance, human rights and investments, and engaging public issuers’ management and board members on ESG. She holds a BA in Political Science and an MSc in International Development Studies from the University of Amsterdam.

Nalini Feuilloley
Nalini Feuilloley is Head of the Responsible Investment (RI) team at BMO Global Asset Management, responsible for RI strategy and oversight of ESG integration, stewardship, and thought leadership. Nalini previously served as Head of Canada of the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), where she managed the Canadian base of institutional clients and educated the broader investment community on ESG issues and integration strategies. Prior to this, Nalini covered pension funds, endowments and foundations at BlackRock Canada, where she championed the firm’s Responsible Investment initiatives locally. She has also held positions in the UK, with Roubini Global Economics and the Gerson Lehrman Group, both alternative investment research firms supporting the buy-side. Nalini began her career with Accenture, consulting with clients in the Technology, Media and Telecom sector.

Sarah Morris Lang, MBA
As the lead for social equality related stewardship activities for BMO GAM’s Responsible Investment team Sarah collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to develop strategies to promote systems change in support of more equitable outcomes. She also conducts key topic related engagement activities, provides thought leadership, and develops due diligence frameworks for investment teams. Before joining BMO GAM, Sarah was a frontline child welfare worker in the Greater Toronto Area for 15 years where she often partnered with economically and socially marginalized communities to improve outcomes for children and youth. Sarah also has experience providing refugee sponsorship and settlement support and communications and advocacy to help advance the socio-economic interests of First Nations in Northern Ontario and across Canada. Sarah has undergraduate degrees in the humanities and applied arts broadcasting, a Masters in Social Work, and a Masters in Business Administration.

Daniel Shannon
Daniel is responsible for key stakeholder management and content production, and focuses on ESG research, thought leadership and supporting our wider ESG strategy work across our business. Prior to joining the BMO GAM Responsible Investment team, Daniel worked on GAM’s Multi-Asset desk, where he was involved in investment strategy, portfolio strategy, portfolio management support and research. After two summer internships with BMO, Daniel joined BMO Wealth Management full-time in 2016 as a Rotational Associate, where he rotated across various lines of business, including Nesbitt Burn’s retail trading floor, Wealth Management’s HQ Strategy team and GAM’s Quantitative Equity, ETF and Multi-Asset desks. Daniel holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Ottawa.

Danna Broadworth, CFA
As the Client Strategy Manager on BMO GAM’s Responsible Investment team, Danna is responsible for liaising with sales teams and their clients to represent BMO GAM’s RI approach/activities, the broader sustainable product platform, and to educate clients on various ESG topics. Danna joined BMO GAM from ESG service provider ISS, where she held various roles in client success and sales serving Canadian and U.S. institutional investors. Her previous experience included positions in investor relations, investment analytics consulting and fund valuation. Danna holds an MBA from Schulich School of Business at York University and is a CFA charterholder.

Ajit Singh, MBA
Ajit joined us in January 2023 and is focused on proxy voting and governance, in addition to supporting ESG and climate-related stewardship activities and thought leadership. Prior to joining BMO Global Asset Management, Ajit worked at Shareholder Association for Research and Education (‘SHARE’) as an engagement and advocacy analyst and specialized in climate and emissions reduction engagements with the North American energy sector. Prior to this, Ajit has five years of experience overseas in corporate engagement for the low-carbon transition, uptake of renewable energy and electric mobility, and stakeholder management. Ajit holds an Honours Masters in Economics from Panjab University and an MBA from Schulich School of Business at York University.

Gustavo Bernal, CFA, MBA
Gustavo joined BMO Global Asset Management in March 2023 and is focused on the integration of material ESG risks and opportunities in the investment analysis process across asset classes. Prior to BMO GAM, Gustavo was the Head of ESG Integration at Invartis Consulting, where he helped asset owners to incorporate ESG factors in investment analysis, decision-making, and operational processes. He founded TerraBlanca Impact Capital, an impact investment fund in Latam and has also worked as an investment management consultant in Singapore and as a fixed income portfolio manager. Gustavo is a CFA charterholder, holds an MBA from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and a BBA from the National University of Colombia.

Graham Takata
Graham leads BMO GAM’s Climate Action and Net Zero strategy through which BMO GAM has committed to achieve net zero emissions across all assets under management by 2050 or sooner. Prior to BMO, Graham worked in both technical and climate advisory roles, leading some of Canada’s first carbon-financed projects, North American green building strategies, and ESG benchmarking for institutional investors and asset managers. He led Ontario’s commercial cap and trade investments under the Green Ontario Fund, and has supported multiple sectors to integrate climate change risks and opportunities into their business strategy. Graham is a member of the Responsible Investment Association and the Association of Energy Engineers and holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science from the University of Guelph and a Master’s in Applied Science from Ryerson University.
The viewpoints expressed by these individuals represent their assessment of the markets at the time of publication. Those views are subject to change without notice at any time without any kind of notice. The information provided herein does not constitute a solicitation of an offer to buy, or an offer to sell securities nor should the information be relied upon as investment advice.
1 BMO Asset Management Inc., together with its affiliate BMO Investments Inc., as BMO Global Asset Management (BMO GAM), together with its former asset management affiliates in Europe, Asia and the United States, was awarded a 5-star rating in the 2021 Direct Listed Equity – Active Fundamental – Incorporation module by the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI). The UN PRI is an investor initiative in partnership with UNEP Finance Initiative and UN Global Compact (see www.unpri.org). UN PRI does an independent assessment of all global signatories annually through an extensive questionnaire. Five stars is the highest rating from the UN PRI awarded in this module.
2This includes voting activity and engagement conducted on behalf of BMO GAM by the Responsible Engagement Overlay (reo) service offered by former colleagues at BMO GAM EMEA, now part of Columbia Threadneedle, in the period of November and December 2021
Shaping investing for a changing world
Our Responsible Investment 2022 Annual Report highlights the work we’ve done to achieve positive outcomes for our clients.
The need to invest responsibly has never been greater. Over the next decade, our focus will continue to be on driving real world outcomes from meaningful climate action to advocating for social equality.
