David is a leading thinker & practitioner in responsible investment. Born & brought up in Scotland, he was co-founder, and CEO of Hermes Focus Funds & Equity Ownership Service. These became the largest responsible investment group of any fund manager in the world.  Throughout his career he has been deeply involved in policy, particularly in the field of corporate governance and financial market regulation. He has led numerous initiatives to improve the performance of the financial system. For example he chaired the UN Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative in the run up to the Paris Climate Conference, (CoP 21).