Sean Flannery, Managing Partner, RedBrow, LLC
Sean Flannery advises on the design, structuring and placement of innovative financing structures for climate and other ESG-related investments in the emerging markets, drawing on more than 30 years of experience in the global institutional investment markets. He also serves as an external expert on investment strategy formulation, implementation, governance and evaluation for multi-lateral development banks.
Recent engagements include senior advisory roles with the World Bank Group’s IBRD, IFC and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).He advised the IFC from pre-concept to financial close on what ultimately became the Amundi Planet Emerging Green One (EGO) Fund. He served as an expert project reviewer for the UN Green Climate Fund advised the International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA) on strategies, incentives and structures designed to attract institutional investment to renewable energy projects in the emerging markets.
He was appointed to the Consultative Working Group for the Financial Innovation Standing Committee of the European Securities Market Association (ESMA) where he served four terms.He has been a reviewer for OECD climate finance publications, advised the Kingdom of Morocco on insurance investment reforms and taught economic development in low-resource environments for the Harvard Summer Program. He is a member of the Advisory Panel of the Climate Bonds Initiative and the Coalition for International Platform on Climate Finance Meeting (IPCF).
Mr. Flannery previously was Chief Investment Officer, Americas for State Street Global Advisors, where he was responsible for over US$2 trillion in global assets under management, across all listed asset classes and in global geographies. Earlier in his career he led the global fixed income investment team and has deep expertise is various forms of balance sheet and asset-based finance. He was responsible for new investment product development and was a member of the Investment Committee.
He also has played a key role in financial market innovations, including the Pan Asian Investment Fund, a pioneering strategy that deepened and extended local currency bond markets in Asia.
He serves as Vice Chair of Corporate Knights in Toronto, Canada.
Mr. Flannery has a BA in Economics from the George Washington University, and is a Fellow of the Harvard Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (in residence 2009-10).