RI People & Appointments, July 22: Wisconsin investment chief Villa joins 300 Club

David Villa, Chief Investment Officer and Chairman of the Investment Committee for the $95bn (€72bn) State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), has joined the 300 Club. The group of leading investment professionals, chaired by Hermes Fund Managers’ CEO Saker Nusseibeh, was formed to raise “uncomfortable and fundamental questions” about the foundations of the investment landscape. Villa is a past CIO at the Florida State Board of Administration and also worked for UBS Global Asset Management/Brinson Partners in Chicago. Link

Mike Clark has been named to the role of director of responsible investments at Russell Investments, the group with $173.5bn in assets under management worldwide. He will focus on developing the firm’s responsible investment capabilities and also ensuring the company’s continued support of the Principles for Responsible Investment and retain his role as head of the firm’s Sustainability Council. Clark oversaw the creation of Russell’s Sustainability Council three years ago.

David Cote and Ellen Futter have retired from the board of investment bank J.P.Morgan Chase, which added it intends to appoint new directors to the board later this year. Futter, president of the American Museum of Natural History, is leaving after 16 years, while Honeywell International CEO is leaving after five years on the board.

Gina McCarthy has been confirmed as the new Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency by a vote in the Senate. McCarthy, who was appointed by President Obama in 2009 as Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, succeeds Lisa Jackson.Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the environmental lawyer and campaigner who is the son of former US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy Sr., has resigned from Westinghouse Solar, the solar power firm that was founded in 2001. It comes as Westinghouse announced that it has terminated its previously announced merger with Australia-based CBD Energy. Westinghouse Solar said it was now committed to its core business, expanding its product offerings and “exploring strategic opportunities”.

Robert Brown, senior investment consultant and Chairman of Towers Watson Global Investment Committee, has been elected Chair of the new Defined Benefit Council at the National Association of Pension Funds, the UK trade body. Lesley Williams, Group Pensions Director at Whitbread, will chair the NAPF’s Defined Contribution Council.

Nicole Gardner has been appointed Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Marsh & McLennan Companies, the professional services firm which is the parent for investment consultants Mercer. She was most recently a partner at subsidiary firm Oliver Wyman, where she most recently led its General Consulting Group. Announcement

FAIR Canada, the investor advocacy group, has re-advertised the position of Executive Director. Applications were requested by July 5 “but applications after this date are welcome. The role succeeds Ermanno Pascutto, FAIR Canada’s founder and initial Executive Director.