RI People & Appointments, July 22: ICGN names three new governing board members (amended)

(Amends item on Victorian Funds Management Corporation.)

Christine Chow, Dan Konigsburg and Myeong (Mike) Cho have been elected to the Board of Governors of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) at the body’s AGM in Tokyo. Chow heads Asia and Global Emerging Markets Stewardship at Hermes Investment Management and is a member of the London School of Economics’ Investment Committee. Konigsburg is Senior Managing Director, Corporate Governance and Public Policy at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and chairs OECD’s Business Advisory Committee on Corporate Governance. Professor Cho is President of the Korea Corporate Governance Service. The ICGN thanked its three outgoing Governors: Dana Hollinger (CalPERS), Mike McCauley (Florida State Board of Administration) and Geof Stapledon (BHP Billiton).

The ICGN also awarded Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with its Global Governance Award, in recognition of his “achievements towards improving corporate governance in Japan as part of a wider economic revitalisation strategy”.

Sarah Gordon, the former Financial Times journalist, has been named CEO of the UK’s new Impact Investing Institute, which has been set up to look for more effective ways to combine financial returns with a social purpose to help improve people’s lives. The institute is chaired by Allianz’s Elizabeth Corley and its Advisory Council is chaired by Harvey McGrath, the former chair of Man Group and Prudential plc.

Sir Jonathan Thompson has been named CEO of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the UK watchdog, where he will replace Stephen Haddrill. He joins from HM Revenue and Customs where he was CEO and will oversee the FRC’s transformation into the new Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (Arga).

Separately the FRC has named Liz Murrall, Director Stewardship and Reporting at the Investment Association, as chair of its Corporate Reporting Council.

Chaoni Huang has been named Head of Sustainable Capital Markets, Asia-Pacific, at BNP Paribas. She joins from fellow French bank Natixis where she was Executive Director, Green and Sustainable Solutions for the region. Huang, formerly at Trucost and MSCI, is also Vice President and Secretary General of Hong Kong’s sustainable finance industry group, the Green Finance Association.

Ulrik Fugmann and Edward Lees, co-founders of thematic boutique asset manager North Shore Partners, have joined BNP Paribas Asset Management to manage a sustainability themed fund focusing on the energy, materials, agriculture and industrials markets. Fugmann and Lees join from Duet Group, where they served as co-CIOs after the alternative asset manager acquired North Shore Partners in 2015.

Lucas Schoeppner – who formerly led US utilities research for Sustainalytics – has been appointed Director of Responsible Investing for US faith investment group Christian Brothers Investment Services.

Mary-Pat Barron has been appointed to oversee public equity at the Church Commissioners, the Church of England’s £8.3bn fund. She was previously at Chicago-based Sawdust Investment Management Corporation.

Tanguy Claquin’s green bond team at Credit Agricole has poached Victoria Land – formerly known as Victoria Clarke – from HSBC. Land became Head of Sustainable Bonds EMEA at HSBC following the departure of Ulrik Ross in 2017. Claquin, the global head of sustainable banking at Credit Agricole CIB, confirmed that Land has joined the bank as a Director of Sustainable Banking, where she will focus on Asia and report to Dominique Duval, Head of Sustainable Banking for Asia Pacific.Joel Quintal has left the Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC) – a provider of asset management services for public authorities in the Australian state of Victoria – where he was Head of ESG integration. Danielle Welsh-Rose, Head of ESG since 2015, remains head of the team. Priya Patel has joined as ESG Manager. (Amended to clarify that Welsh-Rose has not “replaced” Quintal.)

Barclays’ Chairman Sir Ian Cheshire will chair a UK Government taskforce of business and environmental leaders charged with greening the UK’s international supply chains. The Global Resource Initiative taskforce includes Rhian-Mari Thomas, CEO of the new Green Finance Institute, Bas Rüter, Director of Sustainability at Rabobank and Legal & General’s Dame Helena Morrissey.

Jenn-Hui Tan has been promoted to Global Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investing for Fidelity International, previously serving as Head of Capital Markets and Corporate Finance, Asia-Pacific. Tan – who will be based in Singapore – was appointed after the exit of Mike Gibbs who lasted less than two years in the role.

Dr Julia Haake, who oversees the sales of responsible investment products at proxy advisor ISS, has been named Vice Chair of French sustainable investing network French SIF.

Peru’s Responsible Investment Program has announced the composition of its board for the term July 2019 to June 2021. The President and Vice-President are respectively Aldo Ferrini (CEO of AFP Integra) and Miguel Angel Zapatero (Co-CEO of the Lima Stock Exchange).

Eddie Rich has been appointed CEO of hydropower industry group the International Hydropower Association (IHA). Rich has held leadership roles at the UK’s development arm DIFID and was most recently Deputy Head of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative which promotes governance in the extractives sector.

Bob Miller – the former Governor of Nevada – has been appointed to the board of renewable energy solutions provider, Solar Alliance. The news was announced by Star Trek actor William Shatner, who is associated with the company.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has established a high-level commission to examine how policy can drive energy efficiency which will be chaired by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. Members include energy ministers and corporate leaders such as Shell CEO Ben van Beurden. The IEA have sustained criticism for underestimating the growth of renewables in their systemically influential energy projections.

Jon Hales has joined Project Everyone – the non-profit communications agency focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals founded by filmmaker Richard Curtis – as Senior Partnerships Manager. Hales was formerly Director of Strategic Partnerships at UNEP non-profit partner Climate Action.

The New York Green Bank is looking to hire an Investment and Portfolio Management Analyst and a Risk and Compliance Analyst to join its New York City based team. Since it launched 2014, the state-backed bank has invested over $740m in clean energy technologies in New York State.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) – the arm of the European Investment Bank which provides funding to small and medium-sized companies – is seeking a Chief Executive. Appointment to the Luxembourg based position will be on a contract with a maximum length of five years.