People & Appointments: Amanda Blanc joins BP board as non-exec

Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc has joined the board of BP as a non-executive director, with her appointment due to take effect from 1 September. Blanc, who co-chairs the UK’s transition plan taskforce, has held senior roles at AXA, Zurich and Groupama. Helge Lund, BP’s chair, said Blanc had “deep connections throughout the UK’s business and investment communities, allied to a strong interest in the energy transition” and that her skills and experience “will further enhance our ability to support BP as it transforms into an integrated energy company”.

Katarina Hammar has left her position as head of active ownership at Nordea Asset Management to take up a similar role at smaller investor Lannebo. Hammar began her career at PwC before moving to AP4 and then joining Nordea in 2006. She was promoted to co-head of responsible investments in 2016, holding the role for three years before a switch to head of active ownership.

Jakob Thomä, executive director of the 2° Investing Initiative, has been appointed professor in practice at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Thomä, who was previously a senior fellow at SOAS, helped the university build its first green finance course in 2018.

David McNeil has left his role as head of climate risk at Fitch Ratings to become head of responsible investment research at Insight Investment. McNeil joined the ratings agency in 2019 as associate director, ESG research, from Trucost, where he was a senior ESG analyst.

UK reporting regulator the Financial Reporting Council is hiring a senior policy associate to work on its corporate governance and stewardship team.

Kerry Constabile has joined Standard Chartered as the head of its net zero and sustainability strategy teams. Constabile, who will report directly to CSO Marisa Drew, spent seven years working on climate and energy initiatives at the UN secretary general’s office and has contributed to three IPCC reports. She leaves her role as head of sustainability strategy and engagement at Google. It is the second senior sustainability departure from the firm in recent weeks after its head of credit investments and ESG became head of ESG at private equity house Thoma Bravo.

Kar Mei Tang has been appointed head of Australasia at the Principles for Responsible Investment. Before joining PRI, Tang was chief circular economist for the Circular Economy Innovation Network, a group funded by the New South Wales government, in which she has also held a number of roles. She was also head of policy and research at the Australian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association for eight years.

Thomas Harding, former global head of regulatory solutions at ISS ESG, has started his own ESG regulatory solutions firm. Harding said the firm, named ESG RS, would look to provide “innovative technology solutions” and “technical consulting services” to clients on matters relating to sustainability regulation.

Daniel Jarman has left his role as director, responsible investment, at BMO GAM to become stewardship manager at the UK’s lifeboat fund, the Pension Protection Fund. Jarman spent 10 years working in governance research at ISS before joining BMO in 2016.

Adam McGibbon has announced he is leaving his job as UK campaign lead at Market Forces to become a campaign strategist at Oil Change International. His replacement has not yet been announced.

Lily Morris has left her role as responsible investments manager at Scottish Widows to become an ESG manager in Lloyds’ commercial banking division.

Julian Kölbel has joined the University of St Gallen as assistant professor for sustainable finance. Kölbel, who was previously a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich, will teach courses on impact investing and ESG metrics.

Anna McDonald has left her role as director of the ethical investment advisory group at the Church of England to become director of PGIM’s global ESG strategy. She has previously held a range of banking roles, including at Barclays, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale.

Robeco has hired David Thomas as a senior portfolio manager for its upcoming biodiversity strategy, set to launch in Q4 this year. Thomas, who has previously held roles at PwC, Macquarie and Morgan Stanley, leaves his role as portfolio manager at Ellerston Capital.

Xuyang Dong has joined NGO InfluenceMap as a climate change analyst. She leaves her role as a research assistant at Australian think tank the Lowy Institute.

UBS Asset Management is hiring a head of impact investing based in the UK, US or APAC.