People & Appointments: Faith Ward to Chair IIGCC, SEC appoints investor advisory committee

Green finance veteran Faith Ward has become the first woman to Chair the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), succeeding Peter Damgaard Jensen, who stood down after three years. Having served more than 20 years at the UK”s Environment Agency, Ward is currently Chief Responsible Investment Officer of the UK’s Brunel pension pool. IIGCC, whose members represent €33trn, also announced that Torben Möger Pedersen, Chief Executive of PensionDanmark, would be its new Vice Chair, while pension giant PKA’s CEO Jon Johnsen, and Helena Vines Fiestas, Deputy Global Head of Sustainability at BNP Paribas Asset Management, would join as Board Members.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has appointed its latest Investor Advisory Committee, which advises it on regulatory priorities for investment products and strategies, as well as disclosure rules and investor rights. Members of the group now include: Sandra Peters, Senior Head of Global Financial Reporting Policy at CFA Institute; Cambria Allen-Ratzlaff, Corporate Governance Director at UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust; Alice Stinebaugh, Social Studies Department Chair, Parkland School District; Jamila Abston from EY; Brian Hellmer from the State of Wisconsin Investment Board; Paul Sommerstad from Cerity Partners; Joanne Yoo from Development Partners International; and Leslie Van Buskirk from the Division of Securities at State of Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions. Advisory Committee. The group will meet in March. 

Global Infrastructure Partners has hired Tufan Erginbilgic, the ex- CEO of BP Downstream, as a partner. The investment house noted that, during his two decades at BP, Erginbilgic has been involved in developing BP’s “energy transition plans” – experience it described as “invaluable to GIP as we implement our own energy transition plans and heighten our focus on and leadership in ESG issues”. 

Don Chen, President of the Surdna Foundation, has been appointed as the new Co-Chair of the Presidents’ Council on Impact Investing. The philanthropic leadership group, facilitated by the US Impact Investing Alliance, has 19 members with more than $80bn in combined assets. Chen will serve as Co-Chair alongside Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, who has held the position since the group’s inception in 2015. Prior to joining the Surdna Foundation in 2018, Chen was the Director of the Just Cities and Regions programme at the Ford Foundation. 

Blackrock’s Global Head of Sustainable Investing, Brian Deese has been appointed by President-elect Joe Biden to lead his National Economic Council (NEC). Prior to joining the asset manager in 2017, Deese was a senior adviser to President Obama on climate, conservation, and energy; he  also served as Deputy Director of the NEC.

Dimitri Zenghelis, a former Head of Policy at the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute, has become Chairman of Capital Generation Partners’ new Responsible Wealth Committee, which will support the environmental and social objectives of the investment firm. Zenghelis has been Chief Economist for the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, and spent a decade at the UK Treasury, where he was Head of Economic Forecasting.

La Financière de l’Échiquier has poached Paul Merle from La Banque Postale Asset Management, to be an SRI Equities Manager in its new five-strong fund management team. Merle will also take positions on the Echiquier Positive Impact and Echiquier Major SRI Growth Europe funds, and oversee the new Echiquier Climate Impact Europe fund. Merle had worked at La Banque Postale Asset Management since 2016, most recently as a sustainable thematics analyst. He also spent 13 years at Fédéris Gestion d'Actifs.

The asset manager for London’s public pension funds, London Collective Investment Vehicle (also known as London CIV), has hired the Director of initiative Finance for a Sustainable Future as its Responsible Investment Manager. Gustave Loriot-Boserup will quit his position as a Senior Specialist on ESG Analytics and Client Delivery at Trucost to take the position. 

The Bank of England’s Executive Director for Insurance, Anna Sweeney, has been named Chair of the UN-convened Sustainable Insurance Forum, succeeding Geoff Summerhayes, Executive Board Member at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.

The UK’s Sustainable Investment Forum, UKSIF, has hired Oscar Warwick Thompson, former Government Affairs Manager at the Investment Association, as its new Senior Policy Manager. He replaces Ben Nelmes, who moved to be Head of Policy at New Automotive in July.  

Tom Scriven has left US-based impact investment house RENEW, where he was General Counsel and Managing Partner for eight year, to join law firm PCK Rastegar Panchal Scriven, advising on transactions, fund structuring, governance, and regulatory compliance. 

Lauren Burnhill has joined Emerald Peak Private Equity as a Managing Partner, where she will help develop the firm’s impact strategy for Latin America. Burnhill spent more than a decade at sustainable finance and responsible investment consultancy One Planet Ventures. 

Long-term Willis Towers Watson head Thierry Adant, has joined a new investment firm called Newmarket, as CIO. Newmarket was spun out from Mariner Investment Group in June to work with development organisations and banks on impact strategies. 

Renewables and infrastructure investor Conquest has named Emma Barnes as its Director for Finance and Regulation. Barnes will also join the firm’s Executive Committee.