RI People & Appointments, July 13: Eurosif Executive Director leaves to return to asset management

François Passant, Executive Director of Eurosif, is leaving the organisation to move back to the fund management industry. Formerly Executive Director of Vanguard Investments Europe, he joined Eurosif in September 2011. The move comes amid wider changes at the Brussels-based body, which will see a new Advisory Council formed next year and closer ties with UKSIF.

Emma Herd has been named as the new CEO of the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC), the Australasian investor body representing members with more than A$1trn (euro) in funds under management. She was most recently Head of Sustainability at Westpac Institutional Bank, with responsibility for the bank’s position on climate change, managing Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) risk, driving carbon risk disclosure in financial reporting and developing commercial solutions for emerging environmental and social challenges. She takes over from Nathan Fabian, who has joined the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) as its new director of policy. “Emma brings extensive experience to the role in translating policy into practice, having been at the forefront of climate change in the financial services sector for over 15 years,” said IGCC Chairman Frank Pegan.

Matthew Doyle, Commercial Director at Hermes Equity Ownership Services (EOS), the engagement arm of the fund manager ultimately owned by the BT Pension Scheme, has left the company after less than a year. He was appointed a director in June 2014 and his appointment was “terminated” on May 8 this year, according to company filings. He joined from law firm Latham and Watkins and reported to Hermes EOS’s Chief Executive Colin Melvin. “We thank him for his contribution to the firm and wish him well for the future,” a spokesperson said. Hermes EOS recently bolstered its team with the appointments of Christine Chow Knowles and Jaime Gornsztejn, the spokesperson said, adding it is “continuing to actively recruit for that team”.

Michael Damm, Professor of Risk Management at the Free University of Amsterdam, has joined the board at ABP, the Dutch civil service pension scheme. He’s a former senior executive at UBS Wealth Management and SNS REAAL.

Esmé van Herwijinen has joined EdenTree Investment Management (formerly Ecclesiastical Investment Management) as a Responsible Investment Analyst as part of its growing SRI team. She joins from voting agency PIRC, has a background in economics and has also worked at Sustainalytics. She will support the team’s voting, engagement and screening work.

WHEB Asset Management is recruiting for two new positions: One is for an investment analyst based in London, who will join the investment team managing the FP WHEB Sustainability Fund. The second is for a part-time (3 days per week) finance, operations and compliance manager, also based in London: Link

RI sadly reports the passing of André Baladi, the Geneva-based corporate governance expert, a former Nestlé executive and an early backer of the International Corporate Governance Network. A tribute has been written by Pierre-Henri Leroy, Chairman of Proxinvest, the French proxy advisory agency at: Link*Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, the former* Invesco Europe head who has been President of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione – the Vatican bank – since July 2014, has become a director of La Française, the French asset manager with €28bn under management. La Française is in a venture with Matthew Kiernan’s Inflection Point Capital Management.

Jane Taylor and Traci Houpapa have been appointed to the board at OTPP New Zealand Forest Investments Ltd., the forestry outfit owned by Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan which owns plantation forests in North Island. Taylor is a Queenstown-based director with a strong legal background, while Houpapa specialises in strategic and economic development, advising public and private sector clients. They take over on the board as the result of the retirement of director Ian Donald and the resignation of Ian Boyd to take up the role of CEO. Announcement

Motoyuki Yufu, previously Director of Corporate Accounting and Disclosure at Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), has been promoted to Deputy Director General of the FSA’s planning and coordination bureau. He is being succeeded by Yasumasa Tahara.

Takuya Fukumoto, former Director of Accounting Standard, Disclosure and CSR Policy at the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has changed position to become Director, Industrial Finance / New Business Division, Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau at METI. He is succeeded by Junko Hioki who was previously Corporate Accounting, Disclosure and CSR Policy Officer within the Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau of METI.

Emmanuel Maurice, the former General Counsel of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), has joined governance advisory consultancy Nestor Advisors as a senior advisor. At the EBRD he led efforts in improving the corporate governance of its clients and governance policies in the countries of its operations. David Risser has been promoted to director, after more than 10 years with the firm.

Turner Impact Capital, which seeks to address social issues through affordable housing and other real estate and infrastructure-related solutions, has hired three new executives. Taylor Carvajal, who has experience in real estate finance at the Blackstone Group and Ares Management, joins as director of finance. Gabriel Quezada has been appointed as vice president from AIG Global Real Estate and Roshan Sonthalia joins as director and senior counsel after legal roles at Realty Advisors and Skadden.

Judy McLevey has joined the Conference Board, the US business membership body, as Assistant Director of its Governance Center. She joins from the New York Stock Exchange where she spent the last seven years as Vice President, Corporate Actions & Market Watch in the NYSE’s Global Corporate Client Group. Announcement

Andy Brodie has been named Head of Operations at Standard Life Wealth, the discretionary fund manager. He will manage the Standard Life Wealth operations function and third party suppliers, reporting to CEO Richard Charnock. Having previously worked as a Director with Barclays in the Wealth and Investment Management sector as Head of UK and Western Europe & Global Head of Credit Operations, he also brings with him cross industry experience with O2 and Sky. Previous Head of Operations, Karen Storie, is now Head of Business Management.