I'm John Babalola, and I work in sustainable finance at Verisk Maplecroft in London. I'm Product Owner and key subject-matter expert for Asset Risk Exposure Analytics (AREA), an asset-level ESG and geopolitical risk dataset covering more than 50,000 listed companies, where I oversee product development and adoption, from shaping its current roadmap to helping clients put it to work. I joined as a Research Associate, developing research on equities and corporate debt through the lens of extra-financial risk and supporting the development and launch of AREA. That research hasn't stopped: I continue to explore how extra-financial risks shape value across public and private markets.
Before that, I worked in the CEO's Office at Nigerian Exchange Group on capital markets strategy, and worked to advance the adoption of green bonds among subnational entities. I hold an MPA from the London School of Economics, and I advise PhD research at the University of Essex on sustainable transitions and climate misinformation.
Beyond my day job, I'm at the hypothesis-testing stage of a new product and writing a book, Winter of Fires. The two are connected by one question: how can businesses built on network effects create value for shareholders without working against the people who make up the network? Through the book, I'm building a new business model architecture, and through the product, I'm testing it in real time.
I also push my limits through long-distance runs and other endurance events. My faith sits underneath all of it. It shapes how I see work as service, and what I've been given as something to steward well for others.