People & Appointments: ICGN names Chow as board vice-chair

The International Corporate Governance Network has appointed Credit Suisse Asset Management’s head of active ownership Christine Chow as vice-chair of its board. James Andrus, vice-president of sustainability global markets at Franklin Templeton, has been newly appointed to the board.

Re-appointments to the board include Hesta CEO Debby Blakey, board chair Ian Burger, BNP Paribas global head of stewardship Michael Herskovich, senior stewardship officer at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Seiji Kawazoe, Fidelity International chief sustainability officer Jenn-Hui Tan, and CalPERS board of administration president Theresa Taylor.

Eurosif has appointed its founding executive director Matt Christensen as an independent director for a three-year term. Christensen founded Eurosif in 2002 and led the team for eight years. He is currently global head of sustainable and impact investing at Allianz Global Investors. He joined Allianz from AXA Investment Management, where he was global head of impact and responsible investment for nine years.

Aussie bank ANZ is recruiting a head of First Nations strategy to “inform the bank’s approach to First Nations affairs”. The successful candidate will work across the bank to develop and implement a First Nations-led approach to a broader strategy, of which the bank’s Reconciliation Action Plan will be a key part. The position is only open to candidates who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

ANZ has also promoted Poppy Brinsley to sustainable finance international senior manager. She has worked at the bank in several sustainable finance roles for more than three years.

Noah Wescombe has joined climate consultancy Cadlas as a climate resilience specialist. He leaves the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) where he led the organisation’s activities on physical climate risk and climate resilience.

The PRI is recruiting a senior specialist, climate policy. The successful candidate would develop policy positions consistent with the PRI’s mission statement and submit and present climate policy positions to policymakers and regulators.

Cécile Goubet has been appointed as managing director of the Institut de la Finance Durable, France’s green and sustainable finance initiative. She replaces Pauline Becquey, who left in August to join private equity firm Turenne Groupe as head of ESG. Goubet leaves the general commissariat for sustainable development where she was the national co-ordinator of the green digital acceleration strategy. Prior to this, she spent 10 months as a ministerial adviser to the ministry of energy transition. She also worked at the ministry of ecology, sustainable development and energy for more than six years.

AXA Investment Managers has appointed Anna Väänänen as head of its listed impact equity range covering biodiversity, clean economy, social progress, people and planet, and human capital strategies. She leaves Mirova where she was a senior fund manager and led the manager’s Global Environmental Equity fund. She has also held fund manager roles at Credit Suisse Asset Management and FIM Russia.

Louise Piffaut has been promoted to head of ESG, liquid markets at Aviva Investors. She joined the manager six years ago as an ESG analyst. Piffaut has also held several ESG and SRI analyst positions at French financial institutions, including Sycomore Asset Management, Natixis and BNP Paribas Wealth Management.

Sophie English has joined Aviva Investors’ sustainable finance centre for excellence as a macro-stewardship analyst. She joins from the Transition Plan Taskforce where she was on secondment from Aviva as a focus topic lead for one year.

Ana Teresa Fuzzo de Lima has joined sustainability consultant recarb.earth as its director for nature and climate. She formerly worked at the PRI where she was head of environment before leaving in April 2022. She will continue in her role as a nature finance adviser for landscape adaptation strategies at Brazilian sustainability non-profit CEBDS.

Nathan Medlock has joined growth equity investment platform Planet First Partners as a managing partner. He leaves Zouk Capital where he spent 10 years as a partner, managing the growth capital fund investing in sustainable tech. Medlock will continue as a policy fellow at the centre for science and policy at the University of Cambridge.