RI People & Appointments, June 25: Aviva’s Anita Skipper retires

Anita Skipper, the highly respected corporate governance specialist at Aviva Investors, has retired from the role after almost three decades with the company. Skipper, one of the City of London’s best known corporate governance leaders, has been in post for 28 years, latterly as a Senior Analyst – Corporate Governance and previously as Director for the fund manager’s share voting and governance strategy. Mirza Baig is Aviva’s Global Head of Governance.
Moxie Future, a platform created by former Head of Asia (ex-Japan) at the PRI and Chief Executive of the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investing in Asia, Jessica Robinson, to empower women investors and promoting sustainability, has appointed an advisory committee. Rob Lake – ex- Director of Responsible Investment at the PRI, Head of Sustainability and Governance at APG Asset Management and a member of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund’s Strategy Council, is a founding member, along with Julian Poulter, the driving force behind the Asset Owners Disclosure Project, former Director of the Climate Institute of Australia and current partner at Energy Transition Advisors and Director at Boorer Investments. Kimberly Cole, head of business development and sales for Financial & Risk at Thomson Reuters Asia, founder of Women in Finance Asia and the Risky Women Network, and Co-chair of the Women @ Thomson Reuters network for Asia, is another member. Anne Copeland, Asia-focused sustainability advisor, is also a member of the new committee, having previously been an environmental and social specialist at the IFC and a Founding Member of the GRI’s Stakeholder Council. Ruth Dobson, and independent consultant who describes herself on LinkedIn as an expert in impact investment and grant funding, has also joined. The final member is Lale Kesebi, founder of new consutancy Human-at.work, Board Trustee at the Asian University for Women and Board Director of the Women’s Foundation.
APG Asset Management’s Senior Responsible Investment and Governance Specialist and Head of ESG Integration for Alternatives, Marta Jankovic, is drawing to the end of her term as Chair of Invest Europe and will be succeeded by Nenad Marovac, Managing Partner of early stage venture firm DN Capital. Jankovic took on the role at Invest Europe last June for one year, taking over from Gerry Murphy, Senior Managing Director and Chairman of Blackstone Europe.
The board of PGGM Coöperatie – the parent company of Dutch asset management giant PGGM – has appointed the country’s former Minister of Education, Culture and Science as its Chair. Jet Bussemaker spent five years in the government role, and a further three years as State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport. “The cooperative board has an important role as shareholder of PGGM, but also a big responsibility with regard to current and future challenges for working in healthcare,” he said. “I look forward to raising this with all members of the board and the members of the Council of Members.” Bussemaker takes over from Frank de Grave, who has completed his maximum term of eight years.
Global research organisation the World Resources Institute has announced Daniel Lashof as director of its US arm, where he will work with to advance US-focused climate solutions. In his previous roles as COO at NextGen Policy Center and director of the Climate and Clean Air Program at the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), he was a key architect of policy proposals aimed at reducing pollution.The UN Global Compact has announced seven new board members in a move it claims makes the board more “diverse and streamlined”. The new members are: Schneider Electric’s CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire; Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce, John Denton; Clara Arpa Azofra, CEO of Arpa Equipos Móviles de Campaña; Natura Cosméticos founder Guilherme Peirão Leal; Chalhoub Group CEO Patrick Chalhoub; Melvin Marsh International CEO Flora Mutahi; and Global Network Council Co-Chair Carlo Pereira. The board will “help guide the strategic direction of the UN Global Compact as we work to mobilize a global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders to create the world we want”.
Australian superannuation fund Local Government Super (LGS) has appointed two new directors. Karen McKeown, who has replaced Lindsay Brown, is a current councillor and former mayor of Penrith City Council, and sits on LGS’ committees for Audit and Compliance Member Services and Risk. Replacing Jim Montague, Gregory McLean is a Councillor for the Sutherland Shire Council, and has been a Director of several corporate and not-for-profit organisations throughout his career. He now sits on the Governance, Remuneration and Nomination Committee, Member Services Committee and Risk Committee at LGS.
Ethos’ AGMs this month saw the election of two new chairs to replace Dominique Biedermann, who stood down after 21 years. Rudolf Rechsteiner was elected unanimously as Chair of Ethos Foundation and Beth Krasna unanimously as Chair of Ethos Services. The general meeting of Ethos Foundation also recommended to appoint Andrea Frost, vice-chairman of the Bernese pension fund, to the board of Ethos Foundation.
Matt Whineray has been named Adrian Orr’s replacement as CEO of the NZ$38bn (€22.5bn) New Zealand Superannuation Fund. Previously CIO of the firm, Whineray took over as acting CEO in March as Orr became governor of the country’s Reserve Bank. In 2017 Whineray was ranked ninth in Chief Investment Officer magazine’s Power 100 list of the world’s top investment managers.
The smart beta specialist Research Affiliates has appointed London Business School professor Alex Edmans as an advisor. In his new role, Edmans will support research initiatives around and develop implementation tools for ESG strategies.
The Investment Management Corporation of Ontario, which serves public sector clients such as the Ontario Pension Board and Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, has appointed former Executive Vice-President, Depositors and Total Portfolio at la Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec as its Chief Investment Officer. Jean Michel was also President of Air Canada’s 14 pension plans and Head of Strategic Investment Research at Mercer. Next week he will begin his new role at the C$60bn asset management house, overseeing its global investment activities and driving a “greater internalisation of investment activities,” IMCO said in a statement.
Former Impax analyst Rupert Rink is now working as an ESG Equity Research Associate at Citi, according to his LinkedIn page. While at Impax, Rink worked on aligning its thematic investment strategies to the SDGs and widening its analysis to cover water, food and agriculture. Before joining Impax, he was at Trucost.