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NEWS from the Office of the New York State Comptroller
Contact: Press Office 518-474-4015

NYS Comptroller DiNapoli Appoints First Director of Sustainable Investments and Climate Solutions

January 9, 2020

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced that Andrew Siwo has joined the New York State Common Retirement Fund (Fund) as its first-ever director of Sustainable Investments and Climate Solutions to support the implementation of the Fund’s Climate Action Plan.

“We are fortunate to have Andrew Siwo’s experience and expertise to help advance the Fund’s ongoing pursuit of smart climate-related investments,” DiNapoli said. “Climate change is an increasingly urgent risk facing all investors, and I am determined to protect New York State’s pension fund by keeping it at the forefront of those addressing it. Andrew will be a great asset in sourcing investment opportunities in the growing lower carbon global economy.”

Investors who fail to take advantage of the growth in climate investing may miss out on a chance to strengthen their portfolios,” said the Fund’s Chief Investment Officer Anastasia Titarchuk. “Andrew brings in-house the expertise and insight we need to significantly expand our climate solutions portfolio.”

“Comptroller DiNapoli’s innovative Climate Action Plan puts New York’s pension fund at the forefront of the low carbon economy,” Siwo said. “I have spent much of my career sourcing, assessing, and managing sustainable investments and am looking forward to growing the Fund’s sustainable investments portfolio.”

The Fund’s Sustainable Investments and Climate Solutions Program Director will report directly to the CIO and will oversee an outstanding $12 billion commitment to the Climate Solutions Program, working in partnership with all asset class teams. In addition, the director will provide internal training to investment teams on sustainable investing to further integrate ESG factors into investment selection decisions.

Siwo has worked on Wall Street for nearly 15 years. Most recently, he was an investment director and head of Mission-Related Investing at Colonial Consulting, focusing on SRI, ESG and impact investments. Prior to that, Siwo was a manager at the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), where he validated impact investment funds and curated an impact investing platform designed for institutional investors and fund managers. Siwo began his career on Wall Street in the investment banking division at JPMorgan. He graduated cum laude from Morehouse College and holds an MPA in Finance and Fiscal Policy from Cornell University.

A photo of Siwo is available for download here https://www.osc.state.ny.us/images/press/andrew-siwo-photo.jpg.

About DiNapoli’s Climate Action Plan

Released in June 2019, the DiNapoli’s Climate Action Plan is a multi-faceted strategy to address the serious climate-related investment risks that all investors must face. The plan includes a $20 billion commitment to sustainable investments, dedicated staff to pursue climate solution investments, minimum standards for portfolio companies that will inform investment and potential divestment decisions. The Climate Action Plan is a follow-up strategy to the recommendations of the Decarbonization Advisory Panel convened by Governor Cuomo and Comptroller DiNapoli.

About the New York State Common Retirement Fund

The New York State Common Retirement Fund is the third-largest public pension fund in the United States, with an audited value of $210.5 billion as of March 31, 2019. The Fund holds and invests the assets of the New York State and Local Retirement System on behalf of more than one million state and local government employees and retirees and their beneficiaries. The Fund has a diversified portfolio of public and private equities, fixed income, real estate, and alternative instruments and has consistently been ranked as one of the best managed and best-funded plans in the nation.