RiskMetrics’ Kjaer appointed to Irish reserve fund commission

Knut Kjaer, the president of RiskMetrics and the former chief executive of Norges Bank Investment Management, has been appointed to the body which oversees Ireland’s €22.3bn National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF).
Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan announced Kjaer’s appointment to the National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission in a statement today, along with the reappointment of existing member John Canning, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Kjaer’s appointment is for a five-year term and runs from April 2. He replaces Donald Roth, whose term has ended.
Lenihan said: “I am delighted to be able to announce the appointment of two such high-calibre appointees to the National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission as Mr Kjaer and Mr Canning. It is a tribute to the standing of the fund internationally that two such respected individuals have agreed to serve as commissioners.”Kjaer joined RiskMetrics as of May last year. In 2007, he resigned from NBIM, the arm of the Norwegian central bank which manages Norway’s €347bn Government Pension Fund Global.
NPRF Commission chairman, Paul Carty, said: “The fund has a critically important agenda over the coming years and I look forward to working closely with Mr Canning and Mr Kjaer.”
Separately, the NPRF recently named Eugene O’Callaghan, current head of its investment manager programme, as its new investment director.
O’Callaghan, who has been the fund’s representative on issues of responsible investment as a UNPRI signatory, stepped into the role left by John Corrigan, who was appointed chief executive of the NPRF in November last year.