RI People & Appointments, April 27: CalSTRS, RBS, Eumedion, APG, CamberView

Aeisha Mastagni, Investment Officer at $191bn (€176bn) US pension giant, has been elected to the board of the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) for a one-year term. Said Jack Ehnes, CalSTRS Chief Executive: “Ms. Mastagni’s election enhances CalSTRS’ leadership position on corporate governance issues to not only safeguard the retirement savings of CalSTRS beneficiaries, but to safeguard those of all shareholders.” The CII is a Washington-based association of US pension funds, endowments and foundations holding $3trn in assets. Its focus is on corporate governance and shareholder rights.

Andrew Cave has left his role as chief sustainability officer at RBS, the UK bank has confirmed. Cave had been with RBS since 2004, where he started as a corporate responsibility manager before being promoted to head of sustainability in 2008, and chief sustainability officer last year.

Peter Borgdorff, director of Dutch healthcare pension fund Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW), has been reappointed for two years as chairman at corporate governance platform Eumedion, according to IPE.com. Frank Curtiss, head of corporate governance at RPMI Railpen, becomes a board member, succeeding Colin Melvin, CEO at Hermes Equity Ownership Services, who has stepped down after a six-year term.

Eduard van Gelderen, Chris Hitchen and Henrik Gade Jepsen have all been named to the new Advisory Council at the new AQR Institute of Asset Management at London Business School. The are, respectively, CEO at APG Asset Management, CEO at Railways Pension Trustee Company, and Chief Investment Officer at ATP. The council will be chaired by Robert Jenkins and other members include Elizabeth Corley (Allianz Global Investors), Anne Richards (Aberdeen Asset Management) and former Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker. Link

Ben Patton has been appointed Associate Director in the Real Estate Debt team at Hermes Investment Management, the £28.6bn investment manager that’s owned by the BT pension Scheme. He was formerly Vice President at Barclays Real Estate and will report to Vincent Nobel, Head of Hermes Real Estate Debt.

Charles Bralver has been appointed a non-executive director of the UK’s Co-operative Bank – nominated under the terms of its agreement with US hedge fund Silver Point Capital. He was a founding partner of management consulting firm Oliver Wyman & Co. and remains on the firm’s Senior Advisory Board. Announcement*Joe Ruocco has joined CamberView Partners*, the advisory firm founded by Abe Friedman, the former Global Head of Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment at BlackRock, as a Senior Advisor. Ruocco is the former Chief Human Resources Officer for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. He joins other senior advisors Michele Hooper, Eileen Romiger, Richard Koppes and Peter Clapman. Announcement

Dick Sluimers, chief executive at Dutch pensions management titan APG, has joined
the supervisory board of industrial group AkzoNobel, where he will join its Audit Committee.

Thomas Hollister, a former oil company chief financial officer (CFO), has been named by Harvard University as its new CFO and vice president. Hollister was most recently chief operating officer and CFO at Global Partners LP, a Fortune 500 energy distribution company. The move has been condemned by campaign group Divest Havard that says the move highlights how “this University continues to uphold the status quo that enables climate change and condones the fossil fuel industry”.

Carl Mustos has been named President of IA Clarington Investments, the C$15bn (€11.3bn) Canadian mutual funds group which offers SRI investments. He has been with IA Clarington for almost eight years as Senior Vice-President and National Sales Manager. The firm is part of the wider Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services group.

A Head of Financial Regulatory Research and Reform is being sought by Carbon Tracker, the UK-based not for profit financial think-tank. The candidate will prepare and initiate the organisation’s Financial Markets & Regulatory Reform Work Programme. The deadline for applications is May 20.

Joachim Strähle, the former chief executive of Swiss sustainable bank J. Safra Sarasin, has been named as the new CEO of EFG International, a Sarasin peer, with immediate effect. Strähle replaces John Williamson, who joins EFG’s board as Vice Chairman and will be the bank’s candidate for the chairmanship in 2016. Strähle served as Sarasin’s CEO from 2006 to early 2013, when he left amid the takeover of the bank by the Brazilian-Lebanese banking family Safra. Announcement

The State Universities Retirement System of Illinois is recruiting a Corporate Governance and Compliance Officer, to be primarily responsible for the oversight of corporate governance activities and monitoring of investment manager compliance. Responsibilities include developing and implementing a board-approved corporate governance strategy and program.