People & Appointments: Paul LaCoursiere, Loretta Minghella, Neil Brown and more

Paul LaCoursiere will be leaving his role as Global Head of ESG Research at Aviva Investors to join Janus Henderson Investors as Global Head of ESG Investments. In the newly-created role, LaCoursiere will be responsible for leading the integration of ESG across its $358.3bn strategies.

Loretta Minghella is stepping down as the First Church Estates Commissioner after becoming the first woman to be elected as a College Master at Clare College, Cambridge University. Minghella – former CEO of Christian Aid – will step down from her position at the Church of England in summer 2021; her successor is yet to be named. She will take up her new role next October, succeeding Baron Anthony Grabiner.

GIB Asset Management has appointed Neil Brown as Head of Equities. RI reported that Brown had quit his job as Lead Fund Manager and Partner at Liontrust Asset Management back in June. In his new role, he will develop GIB’s active equity sustainability strategies. Brown has previously held senior sustainability-focused positions at Alliance Trust, Aviva Investors and Threadneedle Asset Management.

Valérie de Robillard has been appointed Head of ESG at Swiss Life Asset Managers’ €67bn real assets unit. She joins the firm’s six-strong ESG team from French real estate development company Nexity, where she served as Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for over four years. In her new role she will be responsible for the implementation of ESG strategies in the firm’s real estate and infrastructures units and will report to Swiss Life Asset Managers’ ESG Head, Nelufer Ansari.

Eric Duchon has been hired by Blackstone for its newly-created role, Global Head of Real Estate ESG. Duchon joins following four years at LaSalle Investment Management, where he served most recently as Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainability.Odile Renaud-Basso

Odile Renaud-Basso has assumed office as the new president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, becoming the first woman president of a multilateral development bank. Renaud-Basso, former Director-General at the French Treasury, takes the reins following Sir Suma Chakrabarti stepping down in July after serving two full four-year terms.

WHEB Asset Management has announced that Fanny Ruighaver has joined the firm as Business Development Director for Europe. Since 2018, Ruighaver has worked as Head of Business Development Benelux at responsAbility Investments. She has also held positions at Triodos Investment Management and Candriam Investors Group.

Binu Paul and Fiona Whyte have been tasked by New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority to deepen the regulator’s expertise in fintech and ESG impacts on financial markets. Paul will continue running SavvyKiwi, a tool for retail investors to monitor their funds and track them against peers. Whyte has also been with the company since 2013, most recently serving as a Senior Advisor for its Conduct Assessment Team.

The International Securities Lending Association has laid out plans to consolidate its ESG mission by decommissioning the Council for Sustainable Finance (ICSF) and absorbing its members and projects into its working groups. The trade association has said it has invited all relevant ICSF members and partners to join its ESG working groups and will take on the mantle of its work in advancing the sustainability agenda.

Dr Jules Wurlod has been named GCA Altium’s first ESG Director and will support the investment bank’s deal teams on ESG origination and execution, and its internal ESG team with implementing an ESG strategy. Wurlod, who will be based in Lausanne, Switzerland, was most recently Project Leader at Boston Consulting Group. He will continue his position as a Sustainability Expert at the IMD Business School.

Nik Amlizan Mohamed has been named CEO of $34bn Malaysian public pension fund KWAP, the country’s second largest pension fund and PRI signatory. Mohamed, who was previously KWAP CIO, replaces outgoing CEO Syed Hamadah Syed Othman who leaves after a two year tenure. KWAP has been one of the most proactive investors on sustainability issues in Malaysia so far.