John Adler joined the Office of the Comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management as the Chief ESG
Officer in January 2022. In this role, he is responsible for the Office of ESG that knits together
previously separated areas of work as well as engages in new initiatives concerning environmental,
social and governance impact on the companies in which the pension funds invest. The areas of
work include corporate governance; Economically Targeted Investments; Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion; climate change; workers’ rights; and integration of ESG throughout the investment
process.
Prior to BAM, Mr. Adler served as the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Pensions and Investments
and Chief Pension Investment Advisor under Mayor Bill de Blasio, where he was responsible for
advising the Mayor’s trustees on the five New York City retirement system boards and on the New
York City Deferred Compensation Plan Board on all relevant investment issues that impacted the
portfolios.
He previously spent 23 years in the labor movement, most recently as the Director of the
Retirement Security Campaign at SEIU, where he managed all aspects of SEIU’s retirement security
program, including public pension funds, Taft-Hartley pensions, Social Security, and private sector
plans. He ran state campaigns to create state-sponsored retirement plans for workers without
access to plans, and co-founded the Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives.
Mr. Adler received his B.A. from Yale University