Alex Bernhardt

Alex Bernhardt, principal and head of responsible investment (RI) for Mercer in the United States, is a noted expert in environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk assessment and management. Alex was a core contributor to Mercer’s 2015 Investing in a Time of Climate Change report and has since (co)-led climate change-related consulting engagements for institutional investors in North America managing over $800 billion in assets. In addition he regularly advises clients of all types and sizes on issues related to sustainable investment governance and portfolio risk assessment and construction.Prior to joining Mercer, Alex was a senior vice president at Guy Carpenter, where he founded and ran the firm’s GC Micro Risk Solutions division. Alex also co-led the Flood Insurance Risk Study, an in-depth year-long project for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) focused on researching the global capacity for catastrophic flood reinsurance, options for flood insurance privatization in the US and the NFIP's capital adequacy. Alex received a bachelor's degree from the University of Puget Sound, where he was a Coolidge Otis Chapman Honors Scholar and is a board member at Earth Economics, a global leader in science-based economics. He often writes for or is quoted in financial industry press.