RI People & Appointments, December 23: Luxembourg SE, Hermes, CalSTRS, ISLA, Future-Fit Foundation, European Investment Fund, Nordea AM

The latest ESG movers and shakers

Julie Becker, “a strong advocate for sustainable finance and Founder of the Luxembourg Green Exchange”, has been named as Deputy CEO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. She will act as an alternate to CEO Robert Scharfe.

Marcel Jeucken, the former PGGM Responsible Investment head, has taken a contract-based role at Hermes Investment Management as a Senior Adviser. He is Founder and Managing Editor of SustFin, an independent RI and sustainability advisors. Jeucken, who has served on the PRI Advisory Council and on the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) board, was tapped to lead Dutch pension fund PGGM’s Responsible Investment Team when it was first established in 2006.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System is hiring a Low-Carbon Transition Specialist. The role is integrated into the Corporate Governance’s Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies unit. The SISS unit leads efforts across CalSTRS, such as the Green Initiative Task Force, the Committee on Responsible Investment, or the Diversity Taskforce, promoting diversity in the financial markets.

Paul Clements-Hunt, a former head of the UNEP Finance Initiative, has been appointed chairman of the board at the Future-Fit Foundation, a UK-based charity. Clements-Hunt also sat on the PRI board as UN representative from launch in 2006 to 2012. 

Dr Radek Stech has been named as the chair of the ISLA Council for Sustainable Finance (ICSF), a new body being set up by the International Securities Lending Association. Stech is founder of the Sustainable Finance – the Law – Stakeholders (SFLS) Network at Exeter Law School. ISLA said the council “aims to introduce wide-ranging solutions for sustainable securities lending through the introduction of its Principles for Sustainable Securities Lending”. 

Niels Bodenheim has been appointed as Head of Alternative Credit at NN Investment Partners. Bodenheim, who will report to CIO Valentijn van Nieuwenhuijzen and who joins from consultant bfinance, said: “I’m excited to join NN IP, which has shown the importance of ESG considerations in its investment process and allows alternative credit to invest with a sustainable and long term view.” It comes after the firm lost 11 of its emerging markets debt team in a row over ESG integration.

Alain Godard has been named CEO of the European Investment Fund, succeeding Pier Luigi Gilibert at the body which is part of the European Investment Bank. Godard was previously the Director General responsible for the Risk Directorate at the EIB and was involved in the development of the European Investment Plan and the European Fund for Strategic Investments.

Annette Stube, Director of Group Sustainability at Danish shipping firm Maersk, is leaving her role, according to a post on her LinkedIn page. She listed the achievements of her tenure, culminating in a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050. “I think we have made a dent, and that makes me happy,” she wrote.

Samantha Hoe-Richardson, a former Head of Environment & Sustainable Development at the UK’s Network Rail, has been named non-executive Director at 3i Infrastructure, the Jersey based listed infrastructure investment company. 

Eric Pedersen, CEO of Nordea Invest (Denmark), has been named as Nordea Asset Management’s new Head of Responsible Investment, according to Citywire. The appointment is part of a wider re-shuffle at the firm, which sees current co-heads Katarina Hammar and Marjo Koivisto become head of active ownership and head of the ESG quant team, respectively. Hetal Damani, portfolio manager of microfinance at Sweden’s SEB, has also been hired by Nordea to manage its ESG private equity team. 

Chris Bole has joined UK-based sustainability specialists Impax Asset Management. Formerly an investor relations specialist at US-based financial services provider Cowen Investment Management, Boles will focus on strengthening existing relationships and building new partnerships with institutional investors in the Eastern US. 

John Fraser, former Australian Treasury Secretary and Chairman and CEO of UBS Global Asset Management, has re-joined the advisory board of sustainability standards advisory firm AccountAbility.

Mark Thompson has taken up a part-time position as a trustee for the Prudential Staff Charitable Trust, a fund supporting past or present Prudential employees experiencing hardship or distress. Formerly the CIO of the HSBC employee pension scheme for more than eight years – where he was instrumental in its low-carbon investment moves – Thompson recently left UK local authority pension scheme London CIV after a month as CIO.

Flora Wang has been appointed by Fidelity International as Director for Sustainable Investing in Greater China and will be based in the firm’s Hong Kong offices, according to reports. Wang was previously BlackRock’s Head of Investment Stewardship of Greater China.

Peter Damgaard Jensen, CEO of Danish pensions provider PKA, has been appointed to lead the state-convened Climate Investment Coalition (CIC). The CIC was formed following a pledge by the Danish government alongside pension funds PensionDenmark, PKA, PFA and PenSam to invest DKK250bn (€33.5bn) in green energy infrastructure and other related investments by 2030.

Wanjira Mathai, daughter of Nobel Peace Prize winning political activist Wangari Maathai, has been named Vice President and Regional Director for Africa at the World Resources Institute (WRI), the Washington based non-profit. Mathai, who is also a Senior Advisor for WRI’s Global Restoration Initiative, most recent role was Executive Chair of the Wangari Maathai Foundation.

Tritax Group, a UK investment fund management house, has appointed Helen Drury as Sustainability Lead. Drury joins from Virgin Money where she was a Sustainability Senior Manager. Before that she was Corporate Responsibility Manager at intu Properties plc.