Peter Lambert has stepped down as CEO at Local Government Super, the A$10bn (€7bn) Australian investor with an emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Chief governance officer and company secretary Donna Heffernan becomes acting CEO. “Peter led LGS to achieve significant growth and wide recognition of the Fund’s leadership in responsible and sustainable investment,” said chair Craig Peate.
ESG research house Oekom has appointed 10 new analysts to help it “drive forward the expansion of our universe”, it said at an event last week. The new recruits started last month and are currently undergoing internal training. “It is to increase our overall research capacity and to respond to the growing demand for and volume of our work,” a spokesperson told RI. Oekom now has 100 members of staff, including 70 analysts. Its research universe currently comprises some 3,800 companies.
Frost/Nixon and Twilight saga actor Michael Sheen has been named as a patron of Social Enterprise UK, the national body for social enterprises. He said he hoped to “raise the level of public debate” about the social economy. “I want to work with the movement and show the world what it might mean to ‘take back control’. An economy that works for everyone, not just the few.”
Stephen Freedman has reportedly been promoted to Head of Sustainable Investing at UBS Wealth Management Americas. Reporting to John Amore, Managing Director of Wealth Management Advice, the newly created role will be responsible for achieving UBS’ recently announced commitment to direct $5bn in client assets into new sustainable development goals over the next five years. Freedman will work with the Sustainable and Impact Investing Team, which currently includes: Michael Baldinger, Head of Sustainable and Impact Investing, Rina Kupferschmid-Rojas, Head of Sustainable Investing for UBS Wealth Management’s Chief Investment Office, and James Gifford, Senior Impact Investing Strategist.
Réal Desrochers, managing investment director of the CalPERS Private Equity program, is leaving the US pension giant to take a position with an unnamed “large overseas bank”. Sarah Corr, an investment director in Private Equity, will become the interim head of the program, CalPERS’ best-performing asset class over the past 10 and 20 years. Desrochers joined CalPERS in 2011 from the Saudi Arabian Investment Company, where he was chief investment officer. Prior to that, he spent 11 years managing the private equity portfolio at CalSTRS.
The Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), the membership body for institutional investors in private equity (‘limited partners’), has said Chris Hayes will join its team as Director, Industry Affairs at its Washington, DC office. He will report to Jennifer Choi, Managing Director, Industry Affairs; he was formerly General Counsel of the Small Business Investor Alliance (SBIA) trade association.
Roland Lescure, Chief Investment Officer at Canada’s C$270bn (€190.5bn) Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has decided to leave his role to enter public and political life in his native France. He said: “On the eve of the French elections, I have decided to enter public and political life because I want to play a quite active role at a crucial time for France and for Europe.” CDPQ has launched an international recruitment process for the CIO role; in the interim his role will be taken by Michael Sabia, president and CEO.Anders Wijkman has been appointed chair of the Governing Board of Climate-KIC, Europe’s largest public-private partnership tackling climate change. He succeeds John Schellnhuber, who is stepping down having been chair for two three-year terms. Climate-KIC, one of a number of Knowledge and Innovation Communities created by the European Institute of Technology (EIT), aims to accelerate the zero-carbon economy through developing innovation for mitigation and adaptation. Wijkman is co-president of global think tank the Club of Rome, chairman of the Swedish Association of Recycling Industries, and member of the Board of the Swedish Development Authority (SIDA). In January 2015 he became chair of the Swedish Cross-Party Committee on Environmental Objectives. He has been a Member of the European Parliament, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Policy Director of UNDP, Secretary General of the Swedish Red Cross and Director General of the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries. Link
Gunilla Nyström, CEO of Sweden’s AMF Fonder, the funds arm of life insurance provider AMF, since 2013, has announced her retirement. The board has initiated the recruitment of her successor.
Gibson Smith, a former Managing Director at Citigroup, has joined governance advisory firm CamberView Partners as a partner. At Citi he co-founded the Private Company Access Group which was responsible for advising innovative growth companies on business and capital development strategies.
Denise Le Gal, Vice-Chair of the UK’s Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), has been appointed the Independent Chair of the £25bn Brunel Pension Partnership by South West Pension Funds. The Partnership is one of eight in the UK exploring the feasibility of pooling local UK government pension funds – an idea touted in the July 2015 budget by then Chancellor George Osborne.
Caroline Anstey, Group Managing Director and Global Head, UBS and Society at the Swiss headquartered bank, has left the organisation ‘for personal reasons’ according to firm. Prior to joining UBS Anstey was formerly Managing Director of the World Bank. UBS did not comment on the future of Anstey’s role.
SunKyeong Kim, formerly with the Korea Sustainability Investing Forum (KoSIF) and CDP Korea, has joined the MSCI ESG Research team, as an ESG Research Analyst based in Seoul, South Korea.
Robin Kamark has resigned as Chief Commercial Officer at Storebrand, the Norwegian insurer and asset manager “to start in an international top management position”. The company said recruitment to replace him “is in progress”.
RPMI Railpen (Railpen), administrator of the £25bn (€29.3bn) Railways Pension Scheme, has named Steve Mitchell as Compliance and Risk Director within its Investment Business. He will report to Julian Cripps, Railpen’s Managing Director, Investment Business. He has more than 20 years of experience in financial services compliance with stints at BNP Paribas, Lombard Odier and NatWest Bank, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe. Last month Ralipen named Leo George as its new Head of Sustainable Ownership, replacing Deborah Gilshan.
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