RI People & Appointments, Aug. 29: UCA Funds Management names director of investments

James Cook has been named Director Investments at Australia’s UCA Funds Management, the social enterprise asset manager of the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania. He joins UCA – Australia’s first dedicated ethical funds manager – from ANZ where he spent the bulk of his 10 years as Head of Portfolio Management for ANZ Trustees. He spent some time in the UK with Citicorp Scrimgeour Vickers and then the British Gas Pension Fund as a portfolio manager. UCA has more than A$1bn (€660m) under management for personal investors, charities and faith-based organisations. It has been involved in a shareholder campaigns to restrict prohibitive interest rates and unethical practices in the payday lending sector. It is also pressing for restrictions on the use of credit cards for online gambling. Link

Leny van der Heiden, one of the architects of the Dutch Pensions Federation, the influential trade body, has died after a long illness, according to a report in IPE.com. She was 61. She had been head of board matters at SPF Beheer, the pensions provider for the €16bn railways scheme SPF and the €3.8bn public transport pension fund SPOV.

NOW: Pensions, the UK auto-enrolment pensions firm owned by Denmark’s ATP, has named Troy Clutterbuck as interim CEO replacing Morten Nilsson. He has been with the company since August 2016 joining as CFO from Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group. Nilsson founded NOW: Pensions in the UK in 2011 but the board has “decided that now is the right time to make this change in executive management”.

Céline Dufétel will join T. Rowe Price as vice president by December of this year and assume the roles of chief financial officer (CFO) and treasurer in the first quarter of 2018. She will join the US asset manager from Neuberger Berman; she was previously partner and head of the North American Asset Management practice at McKinsey & Company. She will succeed Ken Moreland and report to T. Rowe’s President and CEO Bill Stromberg.

Frank Allen, former General Counsel at the Ontario Securities Commission, has been appointed Executive Director at Canada’s Foundation for Advancement of Investor Rights (FAIR). Allen, who also previously served as Assistant Deputy Minister of the Ontario Ministry of Finance’s Financial Services Policy Division, replaces Neil Gross.Eva Axelsson has been named head of sustainability research at Sweden’s Swedbank Robur. She joins from KPA Pension, where she was head of sustainability. She takes over from Anna Nilsson, who left to join Uppsala’s Environmental Department. Link (Swedish)

Robeco has appointed Martin Nijkamp as Head of Strategic Product & Business Development, a new role. He joins from NN Investment Partners. “Martin is a visionary thinker with an impressive track record in innovation, and, equally important, someone who gets things done, thanks to his perseverance and strong interpersonal and leadership skills,” said CEO Gilbert Van Hassel. Maureen Bal is named company secretary.

Justine Sefton has been appointed Senior Analyst, ESG at Australia’s construction and building industry superannuation fund, Cbus. Sefton previously served as a Senior Analyst with NZ Super Fund, leading its climate change strategy development, before leaving late last year to set up her own independent consultancy focused on responsible investment, corporate sustainability, governance and public policy, and finance.

The African Development Bank has named South Africa’s Trevor de Kock as Director Financial Management. Other appointments include: Dr. Victor B. Oladokun as Director, Communication and External Relations; Dr. Abdu Mukhtar, Director, Industrial And Trade Development; and Ms. Omobola Hollist as Director, Financial Control Department.

Alain Karaoglan, chief operating officer at Voya Financial, the US listed asset manager that was formerly the US arm of ING Group, has been elected to the Board of Trustees of Scholarship America, the US nonprofit scholarship and educational support organization.

Joanne Robb, Key Account Executive at Australian financial services firm IOOF, has reportedly been named Manager of Partner Relationships at ethical funds firm Australian Ethical. She will be responsible for managing key relationships and fund coverage with platforms, dealer groups, researchers, and asset consultants. Quyen Dam joins as Manager of Adviser Relationships from ING Direct Australia. Both will report to Head of Client Relationships, Leah Waldie.