RI People & Appointments, August 15: Standard Life, Climate Bonds Initiative, Helena Morrissey, State Street Global Advisors

Sophie Rahm has joined Standard Life Investments as a Responsible Investment Analyst. Rahm, who joins from Schroders, will report to Amanda Young, Head of Responsible Investment. Standard Life has also announced the appointment of Marc Brammer (whose move from Inflection Point Capital Management was reported by RI last month).

Helena Morrissey, the founder of the 30% Club and chair of the Investment Association, has stepped down as CEO of Newton Investment Management; she will stay on as non-executive chair. She has been CEO at the £52bn firm for 15 years and will be succeeded by Hanneke Smits, former chief investment officer of private equity firm Adams Street Partners. In April, Morrissey teamed up with former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres on the ‘Two Degrees of Change’ initiative to tackle climate change by getting more women on company boards and harnessing their significant presence in ESG teams.

Emma Pinchbeck, Head of Climate Change and Energy at WWF-UK, has been named as the new Executive Director of trade body RenewableUK where she will head up policy and communication work. In a revamp, Deputy Chief Executive Maf Smith moving across from policy and communications to lead work on events, membership and programme delivery. The group is headed by CEO Hugh McNeal, a former civil servant at the UK’s then Department of Energy and Climate Change, who took over from long-time head Maria McCaffery earlier this year.

Jackie Beard, Director of Manager Research Services, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), at Morningstar has been appointed an Ambassador of the Transparency Task Force, the UK campaign group focused on improving transparency in financial services. “We believe the collaborative approach of the Transparency Task Force is an effective way to create meaningful change,” Beard said.

Robin Budenberg, the former head of UK Financial Investments (UKFI), has been appointed chairman of The Crown Estate, which runs the £12bn British monarch’s holdings. One of its main focuses, given that it manages the UK seabed, is offshore wind. Budenberg, who takes over from Sir Stuart Hampson, is also non-executive director for Charity Bank, the Big Society Trust and is London chairman of investment banking and advisory firm Centerview Partners. UKFI is the body that runs the government’s shareholdings in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank.The Climate Bonds Initiative’s former head of market and data analysis, Tess Olsen-Rong, has joined Stewart Kinnersley’s Affirmative Investment Management as sustainability associate, where she assesses the environmental and social credentials of bonds. The impact investment firm was launched last May by Kinnersley – ex-CEO of Nikko Asset Management Europe – and Stephen Fitzgerald – former head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management International.

Mirza Baig has left his role as Vice President – Corporate Governance at State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) in search of a new challenge after two years at the asset manager. Baig was previously Director of Governance and Sustainable Investments at F&C Investments for nearly a decade, before leaving in March 2013 to start his own India-based consultancy, Hikma Governance Consulting, which works to advise institutions about responsible investment. SSGA has advertised for Baig’s replacement.

Lauren Ressler has left her role as Campaigns Director at the Responsible Endowments Coalition, the US body that works to build and unify the college and university-based responsible investment movement.

Steve Ezzes, the former hedge fund executive who sat on the Principles for Responsible Investment’s hedge fund advisory committee, has joined an Australian education venture. Ezzes, who left his role as Managing Director at Mariner Investment Group earlier this year, has joined New South Wales-based studylane as Managing Director for the USA and Chairman of the Board.

A Relationships Director, Investor Engagement Team, is being sought by Big Society Capital, the UK social investment group. One of the job functions is to “build an awareness of social investment within priority investor groups who currently have little or no current understanding of social investment but have high potential”. Applications close on September 16.

A Fund Manager is being sought by the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church to focus on the management of UK equity portfolios. Link

An Investment Associate, Impact Fund, is being sought by CDC, the UK’s Development Finance Institution. Through the Impact Fund (which is part of the wider DFID Impact Programme), CDC backs funds that invest in businesses in Africa or South Asia that benefit low income people as consumers, suppliers or employees. The Impact Fund also aims to draw in sustainable private sector sources of capital. The closing date for applications is September 5.