RI People & Appointments, April 28: New CEO named at Climate Change Capital

Eric Alsembach has been named as the new chief executive at Climate Change Capital, the environmental asset management and advisory group. He joins from parent company Bunge Ltd., the New York-listed agribusiness and food company, where he remains managing director of Bunge’s Asset Management Group. Former CEO Alfred Evans becomes director of strategy.

Kirsty Jenkinson is joining Wespath Investment Management, the $19bn (€13.7bn) asset manager that is part of the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits of the United Methodist Church, as a Sustainable Investment Strategist. She joins from the World Resources Institute and has previously worked at F&C Asset Management and Goldman Sachs & Co.

Leo de Bever is stepping down as CEO of AIMCo, the C$70bn (€45.8bn) Edmonton-based Alberta Investment Management Corp. which invests on behalf of 27 pension, endowment and government funds in the Province of Alberta. AIMCo, which is part owner, with the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, of proxy firm Glass Lewis, said a search for his replacement is underway. De Bever is expected to continue sitting on a number of boards at the fund manager’s portfolio companies.

Mike Weston, the former Hermes Fund Managers executive, is leaving his role as chief investment officer at the Daily Mail and General Trust’s £2bn (€2.4bn) pension fund, according to a report in Financial News citing Weston. Weston is vice chairman of the National Association of Pension Funds’ DB Council.

Sustainability portfolio manager Raphael Lüscher has reportedly left UBS to join rival firm Swisscanto. Citywire said Lüscher has joined after 11 years at UBS running sustainable equity funds. At Swisscanto, Lüscher will assume leadership for its EF Green Invest Emerging Markets fund formerly run by Gerhard Wagner, it added.Marcie Smith has been named as the new executive director of the Responsible Endowments Coalition, which campaigns for responsible investment at US college endowments. She is the founder and chair of the not-for-profit Full Circles Foundation and was formerly Co-Chair of SustainUS, the youth-led advocacy group, and was co-founder of the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition. She takes over from Dan Apfel. Link

Beijia Ma has joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) as a Strategist in the Thematic Investing team. She will focus on long-term thematic issues such as megatrends like education, extreme weather and climate change, energy efficiency, obesity and health & wellness, safety & security, waste and water. Prior to joining the team, she spent more than five years on the Equity Derivatives Trading team at BofAML in New York.

Sameer Chopra, Deputy Head of Australia Research at BofAML, will become the ‘point person’ on thematic investing and ESG in Australia. He joined BofAML in 2010 and covers telecom and media stocks across Australia and New Zealand.

Michael Ramsey has been named as the interim chief executive at the Pensions Trust, the £5.7bn (€6.8bn) fund for the UK’s charitable, social, education, voluntary and not-for-profit sectors, according to a report in Pensions & Investments. He takes over from Stephen Nichols who resigned last month. The Trust, which offers an Ethical Fund and which is a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment.

Calvert Investments, the US-based sustainable investment specialist, is advertising for its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Ronald Wolfsheimer is retiring from the Bethesda, Maryland-based firm having joined in 1979. He is Treasurer of each of the Calvert Funds and is a member of the Investment Company Institute’s Accounting/Treasurer’s Committee.