People & Appointments: APG seeks sustainable development director, Neil Brown quits Liontrust

Pension heavyweight APG, which runs €534bn of Dutch civil service pension money, is seeking a Research Director to oversee an investor framework which tracks progress on the UN SDGs. The successful candidate will be the first employee of the initiative – named the SDI Asset Owner Platform – which was recently founded by APG and fellow Dutch manager PGGM.

Neil Brown is to step down as a Partner and Fund Manager at Liontrust, the investment house has confirmed. Brown is Lead Manager of Liontrust’s Sustainable Finance European Growth and Growth Fund Sustainable Finance Pan European Growth funds. Martyn Jones is to take over, joining Peter Michaelis as Co-Manager for both funds. Brown and Michaelis previously managed the Sustainable Future Fund range at Aviva Investors, before transferring to Alliance Trust Investments and subsequently to Liontrust in 2017. Liontrust said they were not seeking a replacement as the “sustainable investment team is well resourced”.

Amy Borrus is to take over the top post at the Council of Institutional Investors (CII), the US industry body representing investors with a combined $3trn (€2.7trn) in assets. Borrus is CII’s Deputy Director and will succeed current Executive Director Ken Bertsch in August. Borrus is a former journalist who joined the organisation in 2016. She will be replaced by CII’s Director of Research Glenn Davis.

Ian Woods has been nabbed by UK-based sustainability advisory Chronos Sustainability, to provide climate change and sustainability advice to clients in Australia and New Zealand. Woods was formerly Head of ESG at Sydney-based asset manager AMP Capital and founder of the Australia/New Zealand Investor Group on Climate Change.

Lisa Hayles has left Boston Common Asset Management to join Trillium Asset Management, another Boston-based ESG fund company as an Investment Manager. Hayles joined Boston Common in 2013 from ESG researchers EIRIS, where she was formerly Head of Client Services for North America.

Marina Iodice has been named Senior Portfolio Manager Impact Investing at Hague-based NN Investment Partners. She will join the management teams for the firm’s Global Impact Equity strategy and the Health & Well-being, Smart Connectivity and Climate & Environment thematic impact funds. Marina, who joins from Natixis-affiliate Mirova, will also oversee the expansion of NN IP’s impact measurement methodology.

Richard Threlfall has been tapped to lead KPMG IMPACT, the accountancy firm’s new ESG arm, which will provide client services including impact measurement, ESG integration and emissions reduction. He takes on the role in addition to his existing responsibilities as Global Head of Infrastructure.

Carlos Varela has been promoted to Global Strategist for Sustainable Investing at JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM), where he will oversee development of the firm’s sustainable products. JPMAM also named Juan Lois, who joins from faith-led asset manager Wespath Benefits and Investments, as Americas Strategist for Sustainable Investing, and Caspar Siegert and Angelo Drei as analysts to support the development of JPMAM’s proprietary ESG scoring framework. The four appointments are to the firm’s sustainable investment team led by Jennifer Wu.

Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, the Costa Rican Environment and Energy Minister, has been appointed to an initial four-year term as CEO and Chairperson of climate change grant-making organisation the Global Environment Facility. He succeeds Naoko Ishii who held the role for two terms and mobilised more than $4bn (€3.5trn) for the fund.

Sophie Dejonckheere has been appointed Director of Sustainable Finance at TD Securities – the financial services arm of Toronto-based TD Bank. She joins from Oslo-based CICERO, a leading provider of second opinions on green bonds.

Måns Carlsson-Sweeny, ESG head at boutique manager Ausbil, has been named to an expert advisory group on modern slavery which is supporting the Australian government’s implementation of its Modern Slavery Act, and establishing best practices to eradicate exploitation within supply chains.

Alistair Stranack has joined the ESG practice of London-based board consultancy Fidelio Partners. Stranack has a background in management consulting, formerly heading the London office of the Parthenon Group in addition to its Global Healthcare Practice.

Hayley McCurdy is now an Equity Research Analyst at Washington-based sustainability boutique Terra Alpha Investments. She took on the role of completing a postgraduate degree in environmental sustainability at the University of Pennsylvania.

Laura Sadis and Marc Chesney have been appointed to the board of Ethos Foundation, and Nicole Beiner to the board of Ethos Services. Both organisations make up Ethos, a governance advisory firm backed by Swiss pension funds. Sadis is a former member of the Swiss parliament and previously sat on the board of the Swiss National Bank, while Chesney established the Center of Competence for Sustainable Finance at the University of Zurich.

Rostam Zafari has been appointed to the board of Cornerstone Capital, an impact advisory film founded by former UBS research head Erika Karp. Zafari, who was recognised by the Obama administration for his humanitarian work, is currently Managing Partner at World Within Labs, a venture firm working with underserved communities.