Nicole Bradford

Nicole Bradford is Head of Sustainable Investments at Australian Retirement Trust. Previously, she as Global Head of Responsible Investment at Cbus Super, a $65bn Australian super fund, and was responsible for driving the strategic direction for integrating ESG, stewardship and sustainable outcomes across the investment portfolio. She has 25 years experience integrating sustainability thinking within investments, companies and government and has worked and lived in both Asia and Europe. Under her leadership at Cbus, Nicole built a high performing responsible investment team that support the investment teams deliver strong member returns. This approach positioned Cbus to be a recognised industry leader resulting in a number of awards and recognitions: PRI Leaders Award 2019 and 2020; inaugural Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) Asset Owner award 2019; Chant West 2021 Integrity award; recognised by Rainmaker as a top ESG super fund 2021; SuperRatings Infinity recognised; Money Magazine 2022 Best Diversified ESG Pension Product.; RIAA RI Super Study Leader Board 2021; 2019, 2018. She has worked both in private industry and consulting and has lived in UK, Japan and Australia. Prior to taking up the role at Cbus, Nicole was Environmental and Social Risk Leader, Asia Pac. For GE Capital with a focus on private market investments across Asia and received several accolades during her tenure for her thought leadership on sustainability. Prior to joining GE Capital, Nicole worked in the UK for global environmental engineering consulting firms, providing sustainability and corporate responsibility strategy for FTSE listed clients in financials and energy utilities. Nicole commenced her working career as a scientist at CSIRO Land and Water, where she co-authored several scientific publications. She also worked at Commonwealth Department for Environment and Heritage on major environmental regulatory reforms. Nicole is a member of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) SDG Advisory Committee, Member Council for the Australian Council for Superannuation Investors (ACSI); Chair Paris Aligned Investment WG for IGCC; co-Chair Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Asia Pacific WG Investor Advisory Group. She is often sought after to share her thought leadership on responsible investment at conferences. She holds a BSc (REM); Master of Environmental Law; Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance (FINSIA); Graduate Diploma in Psychology; Graduate Australian Institute Company Directors (GAICD).