AXA IM appoints four independent members to Investment Institute advisory committee

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has appointed four prominent external members to the advisory committee of its recently launched AXA IM Investment Institute¹ . They will provide their expertise and insights on a range of topics including macroeconomics, climate change, biodiversity and natural resources.

The new members of the committee include:

• Olivier Blanchard, an emeritus professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a former Economic Counselor, and Director, Research Department for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), currently a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, who will advise on macroeconomics;
• Nigel Topping, a policy adviser and former Climate Champion for COP26, who will advise on climate;
• From the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in France, Marie-Christine Korniloff, Director of Corporate Engagement, and Nicolas Loz de Coëtgourhant Head of Sustainable Business Practices, who will both advise on nature and biodiversity.

The AXA IM Investment Institute seeks to help clients and portfolio managers make better informed decisions through insights on the short and long-term trends affecting the global macroeconomic and investment outlook, covering asset class views, macroeconomics, sustainability and future trends.

The external members will attend the advisory committee bi-annually to discuss the key macro and research themes to be covered by the Institute, and to complement the research the AXA IM’s experts already provide. The committee consists of representatives from across AXA IM’s investment teams and senior members of the Macroeconomic research, ESG research and Quant Lab teams.

Commenting on the appointments, Chris Iggo, Chair of the AXA IM Investment Institute & CIO of AXA IM Core, said: “Quality research and analysis has always been fundamental to AXA IM. With geopolitical uncertainty, an inflationary environment, and recessions likely, it is essential now, more than ever, for clients and our portfolio managers investing client money to access expert views. The new members of the committee will  bring renowned expertise to help shape our ways of thinking so we can cut through today’s complexities and ensure we’re ahead of future challenges and opportunities for the benefit of investors.”

Notes to editors

AXA IM Investment Institute Advisory Committee

• Chris Iggo: Chair of the AXA IM Investment Institute and CIO of AXA IM Core
• Gilles Moëc: AXA Group Chief Economist and Head of AXA IM Research
• David Page: Head of Macro Research
• Christophe Fritsch: Global Head of Alternative Credit, AXA IM Alts
• Justin Curlow: Global Head of Research & Strategy, Real Assets, AXA IM Alts
• Marion Le Morhedec: Global Head of Fixed Income
• Mark Hargraves: Global Head of Equity
• Laurent Clavel: Global Head of Multi-Asset
• Virginie Derue: Head of ESG Research

Biographies

Olivier Blanchard

Olivier Blanchard is the C. Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Robert M. Solow Professor of Economics emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A citizen of France, Blanchard has spent most of his professional life in the United States.  After obtaining his PhD in economics from MIT in 1977, he taught at Harvard University and returned to MIT in 1982. He was chair of the economics department from 1998 to 2003. In 2008, he took a leave of absence to serve as economic counsellor and director of the research department at the International Monetary Fund where he stayed until 2015. He then joined the Peterson Institute.

Blanchard has worked on a wide set of macroeconomic issues, including the role of monetary and fiscal policy, speculative bubbles, the labour market and determinants of unemployment, economic transition in former communist countries, and the nature of the Global Financial Crisis. In the process, he has worked with numerous countries and international organisations.

Blanchard is the author of many books and articles, including two textbooks on macroeconomics, one at the graduate level with Stanley Fischer and the other at the undergraduate level. He is a past editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the NBER Macroeconomics Annual and founding editor of American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics. He is a fellow and former Council member of the Econometric Society, a past president of the American Economic Association, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Nigel Topping

Nigel Topping was the UN’s High-Level Climate Action Champion for COP26, appointed by the UK Prime Minister in January 2020 and has just finished serving his role with COP27. Alongside the COP25 High Level Champion Gonzalo Muńoz, he established the Race to Zero – a global campaign to commit all actors to net zero by 2050, the Race to Resilience – a global campaign for secure the resilience of 4 billion people by 2030, and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) – a coalition of existing and new net zero finance initiatives.

Prior to his appointment, Nigel Topping was CEO of We Mean Business, a coalition of businesses working to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon economy. Prior to that he was Executive Director of the Carbon Disclosure Project, following an 18 year career in the private sector, having worked across the world in emerging markets and manufacturing.

Nigel was awarded the honour of CMG in Queen Elizabeth's birthday honours list in 2022 and is an Honorary Professor of Economics at Exeter University.

Marie-Christine Korniloff

Marie-Christine Korniloff is the Director of Corporate Engagement, WWF-France. She graduated from HEC business school, specialising in Finance and began her career at the Bank Crédit du Nord where she held various management positions. In 2004 she joined the Sustainable Development team of the Bank Caisses d'Epargne. In addition to her position within the Caisses d'Epargne group, she was president of the Association for Transparency and Labelling of Financial Products (ATEPF).

In 2012, Marie-Christine joined Financière de l'Echiquier as Head of Socially Responsible Investment.  She lectures on issues of sustainable development in several institutions (Sciences Po, University Paris Est, CFA Descartes).

Since 2013, Marie-Christine has joined WWF France as Director of the Corporate Engagement team.

Nicolas Loz de Coëtgourhant

Nicolas is Head of the Business Transformation team at WWF France, engaging major companies on WWF priority conservation priorities such as fighting climate change and biodiversity loss through science-based approaches.

Nicolas graduated as engineer from Ecole Centrale de Lille. He has worked for five years as a consultant specialising in sustainable development at PricewaterhouseCoopers. His areas of expertise include CSR Strategy design and implementation, environmental impact assessment, and company and sector level environmental and social analysis. He has also led and coordinated environmental and social audits across Europe, America, and Asia.

Nicolas joined WWF in 2014 to drive change across the corporate sector by developing international partnerships with companies to transform their business and contribute to influence a wider change in their sectors. Examples of sectoral coalitions include GPSNR and TNFD.