About Me

WELCOME!

“Capital can be a regenerative force — when deployed with discipline.”

I’m EJ Elena Shin (CQF, SCR) — a global sustainable and impact investing specialist with a portfolio management background, focused on institutional-scale portfolio construction, long-term value creation, and transition-aligned investing.

With 13+ years across Wall Street and the City of London, I’ve held investment and strategy roles at BlackRock and Aviva Investors, helping design risk-adjusted, transition-aware frameworks implemented at multi-trillion-dollar scale across public and private markets.

I. North Star: Capitalism as a Force for Good

My North Star is simple: capitalism can be a force for good.
(Side note: thought my highest calling was to become a human rights lawyer at the UN until my sophomore year in university).

From ESG integration to transition finance, I’ve spent the past two decades building evidence-based systems that align fiduciary goals with systemic outcomes. For me, risk-adjusted returns, commercial success, and impact are not trade-offs but reinforcing levers of global transformation.

II. Track Record: BlackRock, Aviva, and Beyond

I began my investment career at BlackRock New York in 2013, part of the analyst class during a pivotal moment in global finance. I was privileged to help build what didn’t yet exist: a scalable framework for integrating climate risk and sustainability into institutional and wealth portfolios — working in close partnership with global CIOs, sovereign wealth funds, insurers, foundations, and family offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Over the decade spanning New York and London, I held various roles across multi-asset portfolio management, sustainable investing strategy, client engagement, and climate research. As one of the early contributors to BlackRock’s ESG integration efforts, I helped embed material sustainability factors into the firm’s valuation frameworks, risk budgeting tools, and asset allocation models. This included:

• Served as one of the core contributors to the global rollout of ESG and climate datasets within Aladdin, with direct responsibility for external institutional clients — translating ESG data into decision-useful tools for portfolio construction, risk, and strategy.
• Led the design and implementation of firm-wide multi-asset ESG integration frameworks at BlackRock, supporting the alignment of $2–3 trillion in assets with energy-transition goals and long-term performance metrics.
• Advised CIOs and institutional clients globally on climate-aware capital allocation across public and private markets, bridging investment logic with sustainability outcomes.
• Developed pioneering methodologies that evolved into industry standards — embedding climate risk and sustainability considerations into the DNA of modern asset allocation. (climate-aware capital allocation)
• Translated sustainability signals into practical portfolio inputs, ensuring materiality, measurability, and forward-looking relevance across asset classes and strategies.

I also helped support sustainable investing integration within EMEA Fixed Income, spanning both fundamental and systematic/quant processes — always anchored in materiality, measurability, and investment discipline.

At Aviva Investors, as Head of Climate Solutions, I led the development and scaling of net-zero and impact-aligned strategies across asset classes. I worked directly with board and investment-committee-level stakeholders to turn ambition into implementation — designing portfolio frameworks for measurement, monitoring, and accountability. This included innovation in transition finance, carbon removal, and outcome-based investing, where rigor, not rhetoric, drives credibility.

Today, I focus on sustainable and impact investing in private markets — bringing together long-horizon capital, structural foresight, and system-level thinking to build portfolios positioned for transition, resilience, and value creation.

More about my professional background: LinkedIn →

III. Recognition

I was honored with the International Icons of Change Award (2025) for leadership in climate finance and sustainable investing.

My academic foundations span international relations, urban systems, sustainability, and AI — with executive education at Harvard, NYU Stern, LSE/UCT, and Oxford.

IV. Personal Lens: A Global, Strategic Foundation

Born in Seoul and raised between Toronto and New York City, I carry the emotional intelligence of migration and the strategic clarity of Wall Street. My worldview has been shaped by decades of diplomatic, policy, and global finance exposure.

As the daughter of a South Korean diplomat and Vice Minister, I witnessed the quiet power of cross-border negotiation — and the lasting impact of long-term policy alignment. My early experiences among UN diplomats, Israeli and German host families, and wealth/institutional investors and visits to 60+ countries deeply informed my approach: globally fluent, empathetically grounded, and strategically long-viewed.

I view sustainable investment as both a discipline and a responsibility — requiring not just capital, but courage, dialogue, and system fluency across public and private domains.

With deep gratitude and warm regards,
EJ Elena Shin

About Obsidian Odyssey

Obsidian Odyssey is my personal research desk — a private, long-horizon notebook exploring the evolution of capital, systems, and leadership amidst structural macro shifts.

Originally born from internal briefing habits — “one chart, one idea, one leadership lesson” — it serves as a non-commercial archive of reflections drawn from 15+ years in global markets.

Formats include:

• Field Note: High-level signals on market infrastructure and long-term macro trends.
• Memos: Occasional reflections on leadership and capital strategy.
• Essays: Thematic frameworks on systems thinking, sustainable investing, and institutional resilience.

🔸 Disclaimers

• Independence: This platform is strictly personal and independent. It is not monetized, offers no advisory services, and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
• Affiliation: All views are exclusively my own and are not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, any past or present employer.
• Confidentiality: This site adheres to strict professional ethics; no confidential or proprietary information is ever shared.
• Professional Connectivity: For formal inquiries or professional collaboration, please connect via LinkedIn →