A mutual friend introduced Desiree Fixler and me to each other soon after her uncovering of the staggering amount of ESG fund greenwashing by German asset manager DWS. We’ve stayed in touch. We’ve also appeared at some public events together, including the Oxford Sustainable Finance Summit, the City & Financial Redefining ESG Best Practice conference, and a MaRS Climate Impact conference. Ms. Fixler has made other public appearances such as this ECEC 2022 interview with Thomas Knick, an interview with Magdalena Senn at Finanzewende, and an interview with Marta Ra at the 2021 Women in Sustainable Finance Summit.
DWS reacted in the typical corporate way to a whistleblower by trying to spin its own story that was far from the facts. After only being on the job for eight months Fixler was fired in March of 2021 under the claim of incompetence, and they leaked a story to the press. Yet, as often happens, Ms. Fixler has prevailed. DWS reduced by 75 percent the amount of assets it claimed to be ESG, eliminated its deeply flawed ESG framework, and is now more transparent ESG disclosures. DWS was also raided by the German federal police. But as also often happens, this has come at a great personal price to her. Much has happened over the past two years regarding the situation at DWS and ESG investing in general. I decided it was a good time to sit down for an interview with Ms. Fixler. I wanted to learn what she had learned and get any advice she has for future whistleblowers.
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