People & Appointments: PRI opens applications for board chair

The Principles for Responsible Investment has launched a search for a board chair for January 2024. The candidate will succeed Martin Skancke who was initially appointed as board chair in April 2014, re-elected in 2017 for a second term and again in 2020 for a final three-year term. The candidate will be responsible for the leadership of the board and play a key governance and representation role at the PRI. Applications close on 5 March.

Hanneke Smits has succeeded Ann Cairns as global chair of The 30% Club. Smits, who is CEO of BNY Investment Management, is the fourth chair of the gender-focused network. She has previously served as CEO of Newton Investment Management and CIO of Adams Street Partners.

Banque de France has appointed Elsa Allman as deputy head of its Climate Change Centre. She replaces Clément Bourgey, who has held the role since the hub’s launch in March 2021. Allman worked as a banking regulation methodologist at the French central bank in the early 2010s, before moving to the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de resolution, the independent administrative authority which monitors the activities of banks and insurance companies in France.

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group’s sustainability reporting technical expert group has officially named Chiara del Prete as chair. Del Prete, who has worked at EFRAG for more than 11 years, was appointed as interim chair last April, having previously led EFRAG’s financial reporting technical expert group for three years.

Fiona Reynolds, chair of UN Global Compact Network Australia, has been named chair of the newly created ESG advisory group at Australian real estate investment manager Qualitas.

Vaishnavi Ravishankar has been promoted to director of governance at the PRI. Ravishankar, who was previously senior governance specialist, joined the organisation in 2016 from ISS ESG Australia, where she spent five years working as a responsible investment analyst and accountant.

The PRI has also promoted William Glover to senior associate of climate programmes and net zero. He joined the initiative in 2021 as a relationship manager for UK and Ireland.

Paul Bodnar is leaving his role as head of sustainability policy and engagement at BlackRock after nearly two years. He will join the $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund in April to lead its work on climate finance, industry and diplomacy.

The Sustainability-linked Sovereign Debt Hub is recruiting a sovereign debt director to engage with specific governments on sovereign debt and support the process of structuring transactions. The candidate will also be required to create a networked community of sovereigns, development finance institutions, investment banks, institutional investors and academic and civil society organisations that are linking opportunities to advance sustainability goals with debt issuance, or restructuring opportunities through a performance framework.

CCLA Investment Management has appointed Tessa Younger in the newly-created role of stewardship lead for the environment. Younger previously spent more than 26 years at Pensions and Investment Research Consultants, where where she held several roles including head of engagement.

Sindhu Krishna has joined the Transition Pathway Initiative as a board member to represent Phoenix Group, where she currently serves as head of sustainable investments. She has worked at the UK pensions giant for more than 11 years, formerly as responsible investment lead.

The John Ellerman Foundation has appointed Lily Tomson as a trustee of the board to support the company’s responsible investment. Tomson currently works as a senior research associate at Jesus College at the University of Cambridge. She is also a director of Positive Money and a co-founder of Positive Investment.

Finance for Peace, an independent initiative seeking systemic change for how investment supports peace in developing countries, is recruiting an executive director to lead and develop the organisation. The initiative has been incubated by Interpeace, an organisation which supports locally led initiatives looking to promote peace.