RI People & Appoinments, June 24: UNEP Finance Initiative elects co-chairs

David Pitt-Watson and Madeleine Ronquest have been elected as Co-Chairs of the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). Pitt-Watson, the former Hermes head who is Senior Strategic Advisor at Innovest founder Matt Kiernan’s Inflection Point Capital Management and Ronquest, Head of Environmental and Social Risk Management at South Africa’s FirstRand Group Ltd., will co-chair the body’s Global Steering Committee for the next two years. UNEP FI is also currently in the process of recruiting a new head, to replace Paul Clements-Hunt who left in 2012.

Natasha Landell-Mills has been appointed Head of ESG Research at Sarasin & Partners in London. She joins from USS Investment Management, where she was the Senior Analyst in the Responsible Investment team, and succeeds Adam Frost who has joined Partners Group in Switzerland. Landell-Mills will be responsible for ESG integration and engagement within the investment function, leading the Responsible Investment team and undertaking governance and policy work.

Shalini Samuel has been named as ESG Research Associate at AMP Capital. She joins the Australian asset manager – which has A$128bn (€89.6bn) in assets under management – from Melbourne-based ESG research house Sustainable Investments Research Institute (SIRIS). Samuel, fluent in mandarin, will assist in expanding ESG research on China and report to Head of ESG Research Ian Woods.

Ann Byrne is to step down as CEO of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) later this year after more than five years in the role. ACSI represents 35 not-for-profit industry and government superannuation funds with more than six million members and A$350bn under management. It provides ESG research, advice and support as well as offering a proxy voting service. Byrne will remain on the board of the Principles for Responsible Investment until October. ACSI has begun an “international search” for her replacement. Announcement

Marcus Palmer has been appointed Head of Real Estate Debt at Hermes Real Estate Investment Management, which is part of the Hermes fund management group ultimately owned by the BT Pension Scheme. Palmer, who was previously a partner at Chalkhill Partners, will report to Director of International Investment Ben Sanderson.Daniela Carosio has left ESG research and index firm ECPI, where she was director of institutional relations, to concentrate on a corporate sustainability advisory firm that she co-founded previously called Sustainable Equity Value. London-based SEV focuses on companies that wish to improve on sustainability and was launched with co-founding partners Gary Brannan, a former senior manager at Price Waterhouse Management Consultants, and Danilo Delfini, a former Deloitte manager in Italy. Advisory panel members included RobecoSAM’s Clas-Henrik Ivarsson and Sarasin’s Elisabetta Murenu.

Tom Garbutt and James Darkins have been named as chairman and CEO respectively of a new real estate venture between US academic sector investment giant TIAA–CREF and UK fund manager Henderson. The former is head of TIAA–CREF global real estate and the latter is managing director, property at Henderson. The new company, TIAA Henderson Global Real Estate, will have combined total assets of $63bn.

Inés García-Pintos has been re-elected as president of Spainsif, the Spanish social investment forum, for 2013-15. She is also Head of International Relations and Corporate Responsibility at CECA, the Spanish Savings Banks Confederation.

Christian Dargnat, chief executive of BNP Paribas Asset Management, has been elected president of EFAMA, the European Fund and Asset Management Association, for a two-year term, according to the Financial Times. Dargnat, previously Brussels-based EFAMA’s vice president, succeeds Claude Kremer. Alexander Schindler, a managing director at Union Asset Management, becomes vice president. New board members include Laurent Ramsey (Pictet), Joanna Cound (BlackRock), and Allan Polack (Nordea Investment Management).

Piet Moerland is to leave his post as CEO at Rabobank, the Dutch cooperative bank and former parent of fund firm Robeco and private bank Sarasin, next year. “The Supervisory Board will now search for a suitable successor,” said Supervisory Board Chairman Wout Dekker.

Emma Marcegaglia has been named as the new President of BUSINESSEUROPE, the umbrella group for European business lobbies. She takes over from Jürgen Thumann.