Onay Payne on Her Move to Manulife Investment Management
By Cathy Cunningham October 10, 2023 9:37 am
reprints
It’s been almost two months since Onay Payne joined Manulife Investment Management as a senior managing director, responsible for driving the strategy and development of ESG impact investment capabilities across the Toronto-headquartered firm’s platform.
In her new role, Payne is teaming up with Manulife’s investment, asset management and investor relations teams to screen investments — identifying risks and opportunities with respect to ESG impact. She’s also focused on optimizing portfolio construction, enhancing asset performance, maximizing returns on behalf of investors, and establishing performance benchmarks for ESG impact.
“It’s really an extension of, and the next step in, the journey that I’ve been on over the past few years of my career,” Payne told Commercial Observer.
An industry veteran, Payne spent almost 19 years at Clarion Partners, where she focused on commercial real estate, private equity and investment management. She received what she describes as a “calling” a few years ago “to be more intentional and deliberate with the ways in which I am supporting more equitable outcomes through investment strategy.”
Her move to Lafayette Square in March 2022 marked the first phase of that journey. There, she focused on achieving risk-adjusted returns for investors while also supporting the revitalization of neighborhoods in marginalized communities through redevelopments, as well as the creation and preservation of affordable housing.
“It was amazing to be surrounded by colleagues who have so much experience, and very different perspectives and types of expertise,” Payne said of Lafayette Square. “I’d been in the institutional world for a very long time, so having benefited from people who worked in government or in the social sector to help evolve my thinking —with respect to how we can support greater levels of institutional capital in ways that support or help more equitable outcomes— was exactly what I needed at that stage in my career.”
She didn’t expect to make the move to Manulife quite so quickly, but “it’s rare, from my perspective, to find an institutional group that’s so aligned with my personal ethos,” she said. “It became clear that this was the right move at this time, and I’m really excited about participating in the real estate team’s growth and transformation, and that I have the opportunity to focus on ESG, impact integration and sustainable investing.”
Manulife has also articulated its desire to drive inclusive economic opportunity, a personal passion of Payne’s.
“We all have work to do. As an industry, we’ve made more progress with respect to the ‘E’ in ESG, and, for me, economic inclusion and an inclusive capitalist philosophy is really important. I see that priority within Manulife.”
Payne is the latest of several big hires at Manulife. She follows Marc Feliciano, who joined the firm from DWS in February 2022 as global head of real estate for private markets; Jessica Harrison, who joined as head of acquisitions in June and was previously at PIMCO; Moody’s Investors Service’s Victor Calanog, who joined the firm in June as global co-head of research and strategy; and Maggie Coleman, who joined from Sera Global and was appointed chief investment officer in August.
“We’re all part of the global real estate leadership team, and Manulife is really walking the walk in terms of the caliber and diversity of talent it’s recruited as part of this leadership team,” Payne said.
While Payne’s near-term plans as she settles into the new role are under wraps, “what I can say is that Manulife already has a very robust ESG commitment and internal resources, that I was just incredibly excited about having,” she said. “I’m already working very closely with our private markets sustainability team that manages not only real estate, but timber and agriculture and infrastructure.”
Cathy Cunningham can be reached at ccunningham@commercialobserver.com.
