People and Appointments: Changes at Franklin Templeton, Nuveen and Rathbone Greenbank

Note: This article was corrected on March 22 to clarify that Franklin Templeton has not merged its sustainability and stewardship operations.

Julie Moret has stepped down as Franklin Templeton’s Global Head of ESG to “pursue another opportunity”. The move comes as Franklin Templeton creates a new sustainability and stewardship council, led by David Sheasby, the Head of Stewardship and ESG at Franklin Templeton’s subsidiary, Martin Currie, and David Zahn, the firm’s Head of Sustainable Fixed Income. The new council of 19 specialist ESG investment managers. Franklin Templeton is recruiting a replacement for Moret, who held the role for eight years. 

Super fund manager Australian Ethical has hired John Woods as its Head of Asset Allocation. Woods leaves his role as Portfolio Manager at MLC Australia where he has been since July 2016. He has previously held roles at CLSA and Macquarie.

2 Degrees Investing Initiative has hired Yahsmin Malik as Investor Relations Manager in its Long-Term Risk Management Research Programme. Malik has held several Investor Relations roles including at ValueTrack and the AA.

James Anderson, partner at Baillie Gifford, has announced that he will be stepping back from the firm in April next year. Anderson joined Baillie Gifford in 1983, and served on the advisory board of the high-profile Kay Review into long-termism in UK equity markets. 

The Finance for BioDiversity Initiative (F4B) is recruiting a Portfolio Manager to oversee its projects and ensure funds are effectively used to maximise impact.

Rathbone Greenbank Investments has appointed Saleem Shivji as a Collectives Analyst in its research team. Shivji, who was most recently a Senior ESG Advisor at data science firm RepRisk, has previously led the European investment research department at Citywire.

Goldman Sachs’ board of directors has nominated the Chief Financial Officer of Royal Dutch Shell as its newest member. If approved, Jessica Uhl would become the fifth female director and the board’s only director from the fossil fuel industry. Uhl has been at Shell since 2004.

Manuela Fumarola has been appointed ESG Manager for Aberdeen Standard Investment’s Private Markets and Real Estate Team. She leaves her role as Private Equity Associate at M&G Investments.

Quilter Investors has hired Marcus Cave as an ESG Fund Research Analyst. Cave leaves his role as a Senior Investment Associate in PwC’s ESG and investment management consulting team.

Chris West has been appointed to the board of UK investment house Church, Charity and Local Authority Investment Management, better known as the CCLA. West will also join the board of the Local Authorities Mutual Investment Trust, the trustee for CCLA’s Local Authority Property Fund.

Bfinance has hired Duncan Higgs as its new Head of Portfolio Solutions. Higgs, previously a Director at Willis Towers Watson, has over 15 years of experience in investment consulting. He replaces Malcolm Hunt, who has moved to the newly-created post of Head of Client Consulting at Bfinance. 

Westchester Group, the Nuveen subsidiary specialising in global farmland investment, has hired Cristina Hastings Newsome as its Head of Sustainability. She is to leave her role as Global Sustainability Lead at the Louis Dreyfus Company. Previous roles include Head of Strategic Planning at AstraZeneca and a secondment to the World Economic Forum as Value Chain Lead in its Tropical Forest Alliance.

Investment bank Peel Hunt has hired Nick Walker as an equity research analyst, covering new energy and clean technology. Walker, who leaves his role a s Research Director of Renewable Energy at Arden Partners, has over 20 years experience in the renewables sector.

Thomas Viegas has joined the Land Use and Biodiversity working group at the Climate Disclosure Standards Board. Viegas is an Economic Advisor at the UK treasury, and helped coordinate the recent Dasgupta Review on the economics of biodiversity. He has also worked as an economist at the Bank of England.