Sean is a joint leader of our work in sustainable investing globally, advising investors on sustainability, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, and climate risk. He is also a leader in our Electric Power & Natural Gas Practice, supporting utilities, renewables operators, energy-storage providers, and technology companies as they navigate the energy transition, enter new markets, and optimize their operations.
Sean’s recent client projects include the following:
- working with a large institutional investor to develop a strategy to identify and prioritize sustainability levers across a diverse portfolio spanning infrastructure, real estate, and energy assets
- supporting a private-equity investor with an assessment of market opportunities and potential returns in sustainable infrastructure, including renewable power, low-carbon mobility, waste to value, and the circular economy
- advising a leading energy company on technologies for distributed generation in the United States, with estimates of market size and grid-parity tipping points for each technology
- helping a US solar company to identify opportunities for operational efficiencies in technology deployment, procurement, installation, sales, and business-support functions
- supporting a global industrial company in developing an entry strategy for the US energy-storage market, including assessing applications, sizing markets, and designing an implementation roadmap
- working with a major US utility to develop a renewable-energy strategy across wind, solar, and hydro technologies
Outside his client work, Sean is a regular contributor to our knowledge development on sustainability and climate risk and has published several articles on ESG, energy storage, and the energy transition.
Before joining McKinsey, Sean worked as a venture-capital and private-equity investor in renewable energy, helped launch an impact investment fund in South Africa, and spent several years as a Wall Street trader.
Published work
“The ESG premium: New perspectives on value and performance,” McKinsey & Company, February 2020
“Embracing residential battery storage,” excerpt from “Redefining the power industry,” McKinsey Quarterly, November 2019
“How residential energy storage could help support the power grid,” McKinsey & Company, March 2019
“The new rules of competition in energy storage,” McKinsey & Company, June 2018
Past Experience
E+Co (now Persistent Energy Partners)
Associate, clean energy investment
Heart Capital
Head of strategy and development
Goldman Sachs
Financial analyst
Education
Columbia University
MA, business administration
Harvard University
BA, psychology