Desiree Fixler

Desiree Fixler is a leading expert in sustainable finance and ESG investing with over 25 years of experience innovating and shaping financial markets. As former Group Sustainability Officer at DWS Group, she courageously exposed what she considered extensive greenwashing, highlighting discrepancies between the firm's public ESG claims and internal practices. Her distinguished career includes senior roles at JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Zais Group, where she developed award-winning products such as the iTraxx and CDX indices. Now Chair of VentureESG and senior adviser to financial institutions including the FCA, she equips audiences with the insight to demand transparency, identify misleading claims, and build genuine accountability in sustainable investing.

When Desiree Fixler publicly challenged what she considered extensive greenwashing at DWS Group, where she served as Group Sustainability Officer, she fundamentally shifted the conversation around accountability in sustainable finance. Her decision to expose the discrepancies between the firm's public ESG claims and its internal practices demonstrated the courage required to demand genuine transparency in an industry where rhetoric often outpaces reality. With over 25 years of experience spanning sustainable finance and investment banking, she has built a career on innovation and integrity, developing market-transformational products whilst holding institutions to the standards they publicly espouse. Now recognised as one of the fiercest critics of ESG practices from someone who once championed them from within, she has become a vital voice in the movement towards authentic corporate and investor accountability.

Her credentials extend far beyond a single act of whistleblowing. At JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Zais Group, Desiree built and managed ESG investing and structured credit businesses, delivering comprehensive policy frameworks, investor strategies and product development that shaped institutional approaches to sustainable finance. Her track record includes the development of the JECI, which evolved into the globally significant iTraxx and CDX indices, alongside a series of impact securitisations that demonstrated how financial innovation could serve broader social and environmental goals. As a senior adviser to responsAbility Investments and BlueOrchard, she scaled blended finance transactions in institutional capital markets. A graduate of the London School of Economics with a BSc Economics (Hons), she currently serves on the CFA Institute's ESG Technical Committee and the LSE's Entrepreneurship Advisory Group, whilst chairing VentureESG, an organisation driving ESG adoption in venture capital. Her advisory work with financial institutions, including the FCA, positions her at the intersection of regulation, market practice and reform.

Desiree equips audiences with the practical tools to identify misleading sustainability claims, understand the gap between corporate commitments and actual performance, and build cultures where speaking up is both possible and protected. Her presentations combine technical expertise with real-world insight into the systemic challenges facing sustainable finance, offering organisations frameworks for genuine accountability rather than performative compliance. Whether addressing investment professionals, corporate leaders or regulators, she provides clarity on navigating the complex landscape of ESG investing whilst maintaining ethical standards. Audiences leave with actionable strategies for demanding transparency, recognising greenwashing, and creating environments where integrity drives decision-making, not marketing. Her work ensures that the lessons from her experience translate into lasting change across the financial services industry.