RI People & Appointments, July 7: Nikko AM, ABI, Commonfund, Vestas, IR Society

Stuart Kinnersley, former chief investment officer at Nikko Asset Management has left the firm to reportedly build a new ESG focused fixed income fund manager in partnership with Stephen Fitzgerald, a former head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management International and a member of the Board of Guardians of the Future Fund, Australia’s sovereign wealth fund. The new firm is titled, Affirmative Investment Management, reports Environmental Finance. Kinnersley had been with Nikko for 16 years and was involved in the creation of the world’s first dedicated green bond fund managed with the World Bank

Paul Evans, Group Chief Executive at AXA UK plc, has been nominated by the Board of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to become its next Chairman. He takes over from Tidjane Thiam of Prudential who will have completed his two-year term as ABI Chairman.

Verne Sedlacek is stepping down as Commonfund’s President and CEO after 11 years in the post at the US nonprofit investment firm that was set up in 1971 with a grant from the Ford Foundation. Sedlacek joined Commonfund in 2002 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and was appointed President and CEO in July 2003. He will now continue to work on behalf of the nonprofit community in research, writing, teaching and consulting, said Chairman Bob Litterman, the former Goldman Sachs partner, in a letter to clients.

Vince Rainforth has been named as national practice leader for not-for-profit retirement plans at US insurer MassMutual Retirement, to spearhead growth at retirement plans for hospitals, credit unions, charities, private colleges and other nonprofit organizations. MassMutual currently has $15.5 billion in assets under management with 3,641 retirement plans. Announcement

Markus Zipperer, has joined the chief investment office of Berenberg, the bank involved in social impact investment via its Impact Ventures (UK) vehicle with LGT Venture Philanthropy. Zipperer has been named head of institutional portfolio management, after 16 years at Credit Suisse, most recently as its head of investment strategy and chair of its German investment committee. Thomas Lehr also joins from Credit Suisse and has been named deputy head of investment strategy. Ingo Kürpock joins from Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management and will oversee fund-based asset management strategies.Knud Bjarne Hansen, employee elected board member at Danish wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems, is retiring as a director to concentrate on supporting Vestas’ joint venture, MHI Vestas Offshore Wind A/S. He will be replaced by Chief Specialist Kim Bredo Rahbek, who works at Technology and Service Solutions in Aarhus, Denmark.

Sue Scholes has been appointed as the new non-executive chair at the UK’s Investor Relations Society trade body, replacing National Grid’s John Dawson, who has stepped down following his three-year term. Scholes was most recently Director of Communications at engineering firm AMEC. David Lloyd-Seed, IR and Corporate Affairs Director at Dixons Retail, becomes Deputy Chair.

Frans Dooren has been promoted to managing director at the Stichting Nedlloyd Pensioenfonds, the €1.2bn Dutch pension fund which integrates Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) into its investment policy. He joined the fund in 2009 and has been its CIO since 2011. Before that he was CFO at the Stork Pension Fund.

Luis Quiroga has been promoted to Director in the Renewable Power Partners team at private equity firm HgCapital. He has been at HgCapital since 2009, joining from Credit Suisse’s energy and utilities team. It was part of 15 internal promotions announced
by the firm.

Three new board members have been elected to Statkraft, the state-owned Norwegian energy firm that is a leader in renewable energy: Hilde Drønen, Elisabeth Morten and Harald von Heyden. They are, respectively, CFO of shipping firm DOF ASA, a consultant, and a former member of the management team of Sweden’s Vattenfall. Berit Rødseth, project director at Moelven Industrier, was elected as the new deputy chair of the board. Announcement