Eduard van Gelderen has been appointed Chief Investment Officer of APG, the Dutch pension investment giant with €375bn in assets and one of the biggest names in responsible investment. The move is effective from September 1. Van Gelderen, currently CIO of APG’s capital markets division, replaces Angelien Kemna, who will has been named Chief Finance and Risk Officer (CFRO) at APG. “In the past few years, Eduard has led an important portion of APG Asset Management. It was therefore logical for the Supervisory Board to invite him to lead the investment company as a whole,” said Elco Brinkman, Chairman of APG’s Supervisory Board. Regarding Kemna, Brinkman said: “For the past five years, Angelien Kemna has shown herself to be extremely capable in the role of CIO at APG, so the decision to appoint her as our new CFRO was an easy one.” Brinkman said that under Kemna’s watch, APG’s investment process was made more simple and transparent, clients received good returns and APG’s assets under management rose to €375bn from €200bn.
APG is the asset manager for ABP, Europe’s second largest pension fund, and four other schemes from the Dutch construction sector.
Big Society Capital, the government-backed UK social investment bank, has appointed Anne Wade, former director of Capital International, the US fund manager, to join its board. From 1995 to 2012 Wade worked at Capital firstly as an investment manager then senior vice president and director, managing assets in the infrastructure sectors. She sits on the Board of Directors of the $300m FB Heron Foundation in New York, which was an early pioneer in Mission Related Investing. Wade said: “I am a firm believer that finance and investment can be used appropriately and successfully to generate substantial social returns, in addition to increasing the capital to charities and social enterprises. I am excited to join Big Society Capital in its efforts to work alongside the social sector to help deliver better outcomes for society.”
Dan Apfel has moved from his post as executive director of the Responsible Endowments Coalition where he had worked since 2009 to join the Croatan Institute as a senior associate. Croatan is an independent institute for advanced social and environmental research and engagement. In his new role Apfel will be researching and consulting on the broad spectrum of responsible investing and the transition to a new economy.
Schelhammer & Schattera, an Austrian bank that is 85% owned by the country’s Catholic Church, has created an Ethical Council to advise it on the creation and marketing of financial products. Most of the external Council’s eleven members come from Austria’s Catholic community and its universities. Two are from the financial industry and one from an NGO. The Council’s Chairman is Martin Josef Felhofer, who is also head of a Catholic monastery. Vienna-based Schelhammer & Schattera is Austria’s market leader in sustainable investment funds. According to the bank, the assets invested in its funds rose 17% to €512m last year thanks in part to growing demand among institutional clients like pension funds. At the end of 2013, Schelhammer & Schattera also had €537m worth of client deposits.
Creation Investments Capital Management, the private equity firm that makes for-profit equity investments in microfinance institutions and other social enterprises located in the developing world, is hiring an Associate, who will be responsible for evaluating and pursuing new investments. Creation manages over $140 million through Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund I, Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund II, and several one-off social investments. Link to position*Actis, the $6.5bn emerging markets private equity manager, has appointed Shami Nissan* as a director in its Responsible Investment team. Nissan is based out of Actis’ London office and takes up the post with immediate effect. Actis has had a dedicated in-house Responsible Investment team since 2004. Nissan joins Actis with over 13 years of experience in responsible investment, primarily serving the private equity and financial services sectors. Prior to joining Actis, she was a member of PwC’s Sustainability and Climate Change team and previously led the London business of Innovest Strategic Value Advisors. She has also worked with the United Nations Development Programme in Central America.
Operation Noah, the campaign group looking at how Christians should respond to global warming has hired Ellie Roberts as a campaigner for its Bright Now campaign, which is working on pushing churches towards fossil free investing. Roberts will start at the end of July.
Ralph Whitworth, the hedge fund activist co-founder of Relational Investors is reportedly stepping down from his Co interim Chairman at Hewlett-Packard because of ill health. Reuters reports that Whitworth is also taking a leave of absence from Relational, with fellow co-founder David Batchelder and other senior managers taking the reins.
The British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme has appointed Dame Kate Barker as Chairman of the scheme and a trustee director. Barker takes over form current Chairman Philip Read who is stepping down after nine years as a trustee and seven and a half as Chair.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, as his Special Envoy for Climate Change. Robinson will engage Heads of State and Governments around the world in order to mobilize political will and action in advance of the 2014 Climate Summit that the Secretary-General is hosting in New York on 23 September 2014. She will also provide strategic advice to the Secretary-General based on her consultations.
Joe Keefe has taken the title of CEO of Pax Ellevate Management, the partnership between Pax World Management LLC and Ellevate Asset Management, whose principal is Sallie Krawcheck, the former president of the Global Wealth & Investment Management division of Bank of America and ex-CEO of Citigroup’s wealth management business.
Keefe remains President and CEO at Pax World Management, the US SRI fund manager.
John Dombkins has ended his contract as Head of Communications at the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) after three years and is looking for a new opportunity in the ESG field. Dombkins, a former filmmaker and marketing professional is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland.
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