UBS Taps Exec to Head New Sustainable Investing Push

"Sustainability is a cornerstone of our business, and I look forward to … scaling up sustainable investing offerings across all asset classes and product areas," explained Freedman, in a statement. UBS is "uniquely positioned to mobilize more private wealth toward sustainable investing solutions with respect to causes that our clients care about, as well as helping to meet traditional return-based investing needs."

In the Americas, UBS has been working with venture capital fund Rethink Impact to help raise at least $110 million; half of these funds came from UBS clients, the firm says.

At the World Economic Forum's meeting earlier this year, UBS pledged to direct at least $5 billion of client assets to sustainable investments over the next five years.

Freedman, who joined UBS in 1998 as an economist and policy analyst in Switzerland, reports to John Amore, head of Wealth Management Advice for UBS' Americas business.