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Fund house Arabesque hires founder of U.N. sustainability programme

LONDON (Reuters) - Georg Kell, founder of the United Nations' top corporate sustainability programme, is set to be appointed as vice-chairman at Anglo-German asset manager Arabesque, the firm said on Monday.

Kell's appointment, which remains subject to regulatory approval, is the second high-profile board move in recent months, after Harvard academic Robert Eccles was named chairman in June.

Arabesque, a fund firm that uses environmental, social and governance sustainability criteria within a systematic trading strategy, was set up in 2011 by Barclays , before being bought out by management, under founder Omar Selim.

The move for Kell follows a 15-year stint as the founding executive director of the UN Global Compact, the world's largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative with over 8,000 corporate signatories from more than 160 countries.

Kell was also heavily involved in other sustainability initiatives, including the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), over the course of his 25-year U.N. career, Arabesque said.

"Winning over the world of finance is the next big thing, no doubt," said Kell. "When asked what holds them back, reason number one for CEOs is that investors do not sufficiently appreciate sustainability investments, because expectations for short-term returns still prevail."

"The asset management industry is hopelessly lagging behind the real economy," he said.

(Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Keith Weir)