RI People & Appointments, January 5: former MEP named as board chair at ABP

Corien Wortmann-Kool has been appointed as the new chair of the board of trustees at ABP, the Dutch civil service pension fund. She is a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Christian Democratic party and replaces Henk Brouwer who left unexpectedly in May. Wortmaan-Kool, 55, is currently on the supervisory board at insurance company Aegon and will remain in that role. She ranks her role in European Banking Union as an “achievement that crowns it all” in her 10-year career in the Parliament as part of the centrist and right-of-centre European People’s Party (EPP) grouping, where she was vice chair of the EPP’s group for financial, economic and environmental affairs. But her appointment at both Aegon and now ABP has come under scrutiny from the RevolvingDoorWatch of campaign group Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO). ABP announcement (Dutch).

Environmental data organisation Trucost has made some new appointments. Michael Marshall joins as Senior Research Analyst from EIRIS, the ESG research house, where he was an ESG Analyst. As a member Trucost’s Financial Institutions team, he will focus initially on portfolio carbon optimisation, company engagement and bespoke investor reports. Giles Barwell joined in December as Account Director, responsible for key client relationships in the construction and leisure industries. Prior to joining Trucost he was a Senior Client Manager at AEA Technology’s environmental advisory practice.

Nils Ossenbrink, German CEO at Swiss private bank J. Safra Sarasin, does not want his contract renewed once it expires later this year, according to Swiss financial news portal finews.ch. Citing insiders at the bank, it said Ossenbrink wants to return to his family in Switzerland. It said that the possible successors included Andreas Brandt, who heads the firm’s Germany private banking business, German institutional head Christian Mosel and Lucien Ernster, who is in charge of active investing at the German unit. J. Safra Sarasin declined to comment.

Sir Adrian Cadbury, who led a review in the early 1990s that laid the groundwork for today’s corporate governance code in the UK, has been made a Companion of Honour for his support of Birmingham’s Aston University, where he had served as chancellor. He is one of just four people given a “companion of honour” in the traditional New Year’s ‘honours’ list.

David Emerson, chief executive of the Association of Charitable Foundations, and Peter Holbrook, head of Social Enterprise UK have been appointed CBE [Commander of the Order of the British Empire] by the UK government. Rob Owen, chief executive of the offender rehabilitation charity the St Giles Trust that was involved in the world’s first social impact bond, was given an OBE [Order of the British Empire]. Also awarded in the list were Aberdeen Asset Management’s Chief Investment Officer Anne Richards and Allianz Global Investors Europe CEO Elizabeth Corley, who were both given CBEs.Mugo Kibati has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP), which is developing a massive wind project in Kenya that is backed by a range of institutional investors and development banks. He takes over from Carlo van Wageningen, who has stepped down after nine years in the roles. Kibati, a Kenyan national, is the founding and former Director General, Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat. Link

Lisette Brackel, former Responsible Investment Advisor at PGGM investments, the Dutch pension manager, has relocated and is looking for a sustainability or communication opportunity in Singapore. She was with PGGM from January 2012 to August last year, following stints with Dutch development institution FMO and non-profit charitable organization the Hunger Project.

Marcel van der Meulen has stepped down as chairman of the board of Reaal, the Dutch banking and insurance group that is active in responsible investment. He will be temporarily replaced by Wim Henk Steenpoorte, who is a member of the Executive Board of SNS REAAL and chairman of the Board of REAAL NV (VIVAT Verzekeringen). Announcement

Sean Gallagher has been named vice president for state affairs at the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA), the US trade body. He was formerly director of the California Public Utilities Commission’s Energy Division for nearly four years. Link

Sedex, the not-for-profit ethical supply chain body, is seeking a new Chief Executive to take over from Carmel Giblin who is joining the ICTI CARE Foundation, which promotes ethical manufacturing standards in the worldwide toy industry. Sedex is the largest collaborative web based platform for sharing ethical supply chain data. Sedex’s board is now looking for a “high calibre commercially focused successor with strong technical and general management skills together with a firm belief in corporate and social responsibility to take the organisation to the next level”.

Tredje AP-fonden (AP3), the Swedish buffer fund, is looking for a junior quantitative risk analyst for Risk & Performance Analysis. The unit measures and analyses the Fund’s risk and return for the entire portfolio as well as the various subcomponents.

Services provider Serco is recruiting a General Counsel, Ethics & Governance. The UK-based role is for a “hands-on leader” who can champion the ethical values of the organisation and be a single point of contact on ethical issues. Link