RI People & Appointments, December 2: GRI names Director of Sustainability Reporting Standard

Bastian Buck has been named as Director, Sustainability Reporting Standard at the Global Reporting Initiative, the body behind the GRI sustainability reporting framework. In the role, Buck will lead the ongoing development and implementation of GRI’s Sustainability Reporting Framework as it prepares to become a formal international standard setting body. Announcement

Dustin Neuneyer is the new Network Manager for the German-speaking lands at the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment. Effective January 6, he will promote the PRI in Germany, Switzerland and Austria as well as in France and the Netherlands, on a part-time basis. Based in Cologne, he will be supported by Melanie Klebeck, who replaced Karin Söllner earlier this year. Neuneyer was most recently at now-defunct German Landesbank WestLB in a CSR role. Before then, he was at the NGO German Watch.

Stephen Rowe has been named as the new chief executive of Vision Super, the A$7bn (€4.7bn) industry superannuation fund to local government and the regional water industry in Victoria, Australia. He was most recently general manager the A$16.7bn Super SA, the South Australian Public Sector Superannuation Scheme. He takes over from namesake Peter Rowe, who has been acting CEO since August 2012 and who continues as Chief Operating Officer. Vision Super integrates sustainability and is a member of the Australian Council for Super Investors (ACSI), ESG Research Australia (ESGRA) and the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) as well as being a signatory to the PRI.

Sam Nwanze, Chief Investment Officer at Heirs Holdings, the investment company headed by Nigerian investor and philanthropist Tony Elumelu, has become the first African to join the board of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), which promotes impact investment worldwide.

MSCI, the US-based index and ESG firm, has appointed a new sales specialist for its Frankfurt office as part of a push into the growing German market for sustainability research. Eva Meyer will work alongside David Mark.Ron Klein, Managing Director of the Renewable Energy and Infrastructure Finance Group at Rabobank in New York, has joined US-based private equity firm Pegasus Capital Advisors, along with two colleagues: Marco Krapels and Edward Levin. Klein was a founding member of Rabo’s Renewable Energy group and led major project financings for a large number of wind and solar power projects, Pegasus said. Krapels most recently headed Rabobank NA’s capital markets and specialty finance areas, including its renewable energy finance division in California and was Co-Chair of its Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. Levin was Executive Director at Rabobank in New York and focused on renewable energy.

Catherine Lynch has been named to the Investment Advisory Committee of the $160.7bn (€118.7bn) New York State Common Retirement Fund by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. She is chief executive officer and chief investment officer at the $25bn National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust. Link

Brian Churchill, Property Portfolio Manager at Australia’s Local Government Super, the A$7bn fund with a strong RI slant, has retired. LGS said Churchill, who joined in 2001, was specifically charged with making the LGS property portfolio an industry leader in environmental performance. During his tenure, the entire property portfolio moved to 100% green power and is recognised as one of the most energy efficient in Australia, the fund said. Churchill will be succeeded by Andrew Kim, who has been LGS Property Asset Manager for the past three years.

Anne Sheehan, Director of Corporate Governance at the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) and Michelle Edkins, Global Head Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment at BlackRock, are among the panellists at the Securities and Exchange Commission roundtable on the proxy advisory market on December 5. Also speaking are Nell Minow (GMI Ratings), Katherine Rabin (Glass Lewis) and Gary Retelny (Institutional Shareholder Services).

The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) is recruiting a Manager, Investors’ Council and Membership Programming. The council is an invitation-only leadership group for active large-scale impact investors which currently has 55 members. The deadline for applications is December 6.