

The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has confirmed the composition of its new Policy and Research Steering Committee. It will support the work of the PRI’s Director of Policy and Research Helene Winch’s on long term mandates. Members: James Andrus, Portfolio Manager, CalPERS; Justin Atkinson, Investment Director Private Equity, Alliance Trust; Helena Charrier, RI Projects Director, CDC; Louise Davidson, ESG Investment Manager, CBUS; Kris Douma, Head Responsible Investments, MN services; Mark Mansley, CIO (supported by Faith Ward, Investment Manager) Environment Agency Pension Scheme; Zohre Tali, Head of Regulatory Strategy and Claudia Kruse, Managing Director, APG; Bryan Thomson, Senior VP Equity Investments, BCICM on behalf of British Columbia Municipal Pension Plan.
Perrine Dutronc has left her position as Paris-based Head of ESG Business Development Continental Europe at MSCI to join La Française Inflection Point (LFIP), the newly created joint RI funds venture, also based in Paris. Dutronc had been in her latest role at MSCI for 3 years and nine months. MSCI told RI it had not yet hired another head of business development for Europe, but would likely do so in London rather than Paris. At LFIP, Dutronc re-unites with Matt Kiernan, Founder and Chief Executive of Inflection Point Capital Management. The two previously worked together at Innovest where Dutronc spent more than four years in charge of business development in France and continental Europe as well as head of its Paris office.
Phil Kirshman, former Senior Portfolio Manager at UBS Institutional Consulting, has joined Cornerstone Capital as Chief Investment Officer of Cornerstone Capital Investment Management. He will oversee the firm’s Private Client Wealth Management investment strategies and be based in Denver, Colorado. Cornerstone is the sustainable finance boutique founded last year by Erika Karp, the former Head of Global Sector Research for UBS Investment Bank.
Industrialist Dick Warburton has been named by the Australian government to head a panel that will review the country’s Renewable Energy Target. Warburton, the current chairman of Westfield Retail Trust, Magellan Flagship Fund and Citigroup Pty Ltd., is on record as a climate change sceptic. He is a former Chairman and CEO of Dupont Australia and New Zealand and is a former Board Member of the Reserve Bank of Australia. The other members of the group are Matthew Zema, Brian Fisher and Shirley In’t Veld.
Michael Butcher has retired as an independent trustee at the Universities Superannuation Scheme after more than nine years in the role, according to Professional Pensions. He has been succeeded by Michael Merton, Chairman of the Sainsbury Pension Scheme. Merton is the former head of global business services at Rio Tinto and is on the boards of Cape and Blackrock Commodities Income Investment Trust, and is a trustee of the Rio Tinto Pension Fund, the report added.Mike Wallace, former director of the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI’s) North American operations, has joined BrownFlynn, the responsible business consultancy, as Managing Director and member of its leadership team. Wallace, who will be based in Los Angeles, has responsibility for expanding the firm’s market presence and brand in North America. He has more than 20 years experience advising corporations, non-profits and government agencies on the development and implementation of sustainability strategies. Barb Brown, Principal and Co-founder of BrownFlynn, said the 15-strong firm was looking to expand further and that Wallace’s hire to the leadership team was part of driving that.
David Li, lead China analyst and Asia-Pacific portfolio manager at sustainable fund manager Impax Asset Management, and Simon Copley, partner at consultants PwC, have joined the board of the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia (ASrIA), the Hong Kong group. They join newly appointed directors Yulanda Chung (Standard Chartered) and Assaad Razzouk (Sindicatum).
Jackie Roberts has been named to the newly created role of Chief Sustainability Officer at $185bn private equity giant Carlyle. She joins from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the advocacy group, where she was a Senior Director of the Idea Bank for the US Climate and Energy Program. In the role, Roberts will lead Carlyle’s global environmental, social and governance efforts (ESG) and work closely with portfolio companies to drive understanding and adoption of ESG principles. Carlyle developed its ‘EcoValuScreen’ toll with the EDF. Announcement
Damian Darragh, who was fund raising for private equity group Terra Firma’s $2bn renewable energy fund, has reportedly left the firm. The Financial Times said Terra Firma, headed by Guy Hands, had asked him to leave “with immediate effect”. According to his LinkedIn page, Darragh is currently “on gardening leave.”
Jeremy Moon has been appointed to the new post of professor of corporate sustainability at Copenhagen Business School. It follows a DKK15m (€2m) grant from the Villum Foundation, the non-profit foundation that controls VKR holding, the parent of windows manufacturer Velux. Moon joins from Nottingham University Business School in the UK. Link
Trillium Asset Management, the US sustainable investment advisor, is seeking a Research Analyst responsible for the Information Technology and Telecom sectors. The role is based in the firm’s Boston office.
F&C Asset Management is recruiting a new Chair for its Committee of Reference (CoR), the body which acts as an independent advisory committee to F&C and Friends Life on the ‘Stewardship’ range of ethical investment funds offered by both organisations. The committee meets formally four times a year. The closing date is March 11.