About Kathy Hobbs
Kathy Hobbs leads our environmental, social and governance (ESG) team across the north-west, focusing on helping our clients with their overall ESG and sustainability goals.
She leads projects on ESG strategy, stakeholder analysis, horizon scanning and ESG reporting and assurance, including reporting under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and Taskforce for Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD). Kathy regularly engages with colleagues across the RSM International network to drive a collaborative approach to new ESG reporting and regulation impacting our clients, in particular European regulation such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
Kathy works closely with RSM’s internal private equity team to enhance our ESG offerings for our private equity clients and their portfolios.
Prior to joining RSM, Kathy was Head of ESG at a lower mid-market private equity firm. In her role as Head of ESG, Kathy was responsible for ESG across the firm, including monitoring ESG regulation, investor reporting, TCFD and PRI reporting, and portfolio ESG data management.
Kathy holds an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School, where she completed a number of projects across ESG, including net zero, Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the Social Value Act. Kathy is a chartered accountant with the ICAEW, having qualified in 2015 with a Big 4 auditing firm.
She is passionate about helping businesses to navigate the confusing world of ESG and sustainability. She says:
‘The world needs to transition to a low carbon economy, and while there are small things individuals can do, we will not achieve net zero unless investors and businesses lead the change. Equally, studies have shown that diverse businesses make better decisions and have longer-term greater financial success – strong ESG credentials can help make all businesses diverse, inclusive, and equitable.’
Kathy is married to her husband, Sam and lives outside of Manchester. She is regularly in her local CrossFit gym and enjoys spending her time with family and friends.
RSM timeline:
- April 2022: Joined RSM as Associate Director
