Georg Kell

Georg Kell is Chairman of Arabesque, an ESG Quant fund manager that uses self-learning quantitative models and big data to assess the performance and sustainability of globally listed companies. Arabesque was launched in 2013 following a management buyout from Barclays Bank. It is dedicated to taking sustainability into the mainstream by using finance as a catalyst for change.

Georg is the founding Director of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative with over 9,000 corporate signatories in more than 160 countries. Under Georg’s leadership, the UN Global Compact became the foremost platform for the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible and sustainable corporate policies and practices.

Georg also oversaw the conception and launch of the Global Compact’s sister initiatives – the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), and the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE).

Georg started his career as a research fellow in engineering at the Fraunhofer Institute in Berlin. He then worked as a financial analyst in various countries in Africa & Asia before joining the United Nations in 1987. Georg holds advanced degrees in economics and engineering from the Technical University of Berlin.