RI People & Appointments, February 15: Melvin named Global Head of Stewardship at Hermes

Colin Melvin has been named to the new role of Global Head of Stewardship at Hermes Investment Management where he will report to Chief Executive Saker Nusseibeh. Melvin, formerly CEO at Hermes Equity Ownership Services, the firm’s engagement arm, will lead Hermes’ stewardship strategy development and advocacy programme. Hans Hirt, Executive Director at Hermes EOS and Emma Hunt, who joined from consulting firm Towers Watson last year as Director of Strategic Client Management and Development, will be the co-Heads of Hermes EOS. In his new role, Melvin will advise the Hermes board on the development of its stewardship capabilities, whilst also leading the firm’s external stewardship discussions with asset owners, governments and industry participants. It “reflects our core objective of helping to create a more sustainable investment industry” said Nusseibeh.

Jean Frijns, the former chief investment officer of Dutch civil service pension fund ABP and former Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Delta Lloyd, is among a group of notable figures named to head a new Dutch foundation seeking damages from Volkswagen. The Volkswagen Investor Settlement Foundation provides a non-litigation and no cost vehicle for Volkswagen investors worldwide to recover damages incurred on Volkswagen securities pursuant to the Dutch Collective Settlement Act. The Act has been successfully used to settle numerous cases against Dutch companies such as Royal Dutch Shell. The foundation has retained US class action specialist BLB&G as US Counsel and the international law firm of Allen & Overy as Dutch and German Counsel. Link

O’Brien-Staley Partners (OSP), the Minnesota-based credit investment specialist, has hired Matt Reilein as its Portfolio Manager and Carleen Rhodes as its Special Advisor for Fixed Income Impact Investing. Reilein will lead Fixed Income Impact Investing after serving more than 15 years in roles at JPMorgan Chase, most recently as a Managing Director in Community Development Banking. Rhodes will provide counsel and industry connections to O’Brien-Staley. She joins the firm after more than 30 years in the non-profit sector, including 12 years as CEO of the Saint Paul Foundation, the Minnesota Community Foundation and Minnesota Philanthropy Partners.Jon Wellinghoff, the former chairman of the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), has joined the board of Pittsburgh-based cleantech firm kWantera, which uses advanced analytics to identify the optimal price, time and location to buy, sell, or consume power in deregulated markets. kWantera says it helps energy retailers and renewable energy market participants like wind, solar and even biomass energy providers increase their revenue and profits. “We can help translate, for instance, for the average wind farm developer who may not understand how to use the tools to help him maximize the profits from his assets,” Wellinghoff said.

Sylvie Garcelon has been appointed to the board at Natixis, the international corporate, investment, insurance and financial services arm of Groupe BPCE, the giant French bank. Garcelon, CEO of CASDEN Banque Populaire, replaces Catherine Halberstadt and her appointment will be submitted to the shareholders’ Annual Meeting on May 24. Natixis is the parent of responsible investment specialist Mirova.

Maureen Jensen has been appointed chair and CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission for a two-year term. She is a former Executive Director and Chief Administrative Officer of the OSC. Announcement

Claudia Arney has joined the board of UK-based insurance and asset management giant Aviva as an Independent Non-Executive Director. She is currently a non-executive director of Derwent London, Halfords Group and the Premier League. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Shareholder Executive, which oversees the government’s investments in the private sector. In her executive career, she was Group Managing Director of publishing firm Emap between 2008 and 2010. Prior to that she was Director of the Enterprise and Growth Unit at the UK Treasury and Executive Director at Goldman Sachs. Announcement

The European Investment Bank is seeking a Social Development Specialist for its Projects Directorate (PJ) – Environmental, Climate and Social Office (ECSO) division at its headquarters in Luxembourg. ECSO supports sectoral and investment teams in the environmental and social (E&S) assessment of EIB operations.