RI People & Appointments, July 23: Ex-BlockRock exec Spitler launches ESG firm

Chad Spitler, a former BlackRock Managing Director and senior adviser at governance firm CamberView, has started his own ESG firm called Third Economy. The new firm aims to “bring to all investors the depth of insight previously only available to the world’s largest investors”. Services include portfolio sustainability analysis, the development of engagement and proxy voting tools as an alternative to divestment and ESG integration. He remains an advisor to CamberView, which is supporting Third Economy – which has Broadridge as an anchor client.

Separately, Spitler has been named as a senior advisor to Affirmative Investment Management, the impact bond manager co-founded by ex-Nikko Europe CIO Stuart Kinnersley and Stephen Fitzgerald, the former Head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management International.

CalPERS is seeking an “experienced and respected institutional investment professional” to appoint as Chief Investment Officer. The successful applicant will manage the Californian pension giant’s investments and lead its 380-strong team of investment professionals. Job ad

Keith Johnson has joined the board of responsible investment think tank Preventable Surprises. Chair of the Institutional Investor Services Group, Johnson also heads up Reinhart’s Institutional Investor Legal Services team representing pension funds and institutional investors litigation and corporate governance program matters.

James Sullivan has been appointed as a member of the US Commission on Social Impact Partnerships, the body set up to advise the Treasury Department on the pay-for-success projects to be supported by a new $100m (€85.4m) fund. In June Paul Edgerley was named Chairman of the Commission. Sullivan is a co-founder of the Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame, a research centre dedicated to reducing poverty and improving lives in the US. Announcement

The New Zealand government has named three people to the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, the bod which oversees the NZ$38bn (€22bn) New Zealand Super Fund. They are Catherine Drayton, Simon Botherway and Henk Berkman to its guardians board. Drayton, who will serve as of November, formerly headed up PwC’s assurance and advisor practice in Central Eastern Europe and has extensive governance experience. Berkman is a professor of finance at the University of Auckland, and Botherway is a professional director with a history in investment, investment regulation and supervision. Announcement

Ben Yeoh – senior portfolio manager at RBC Global Asset Management and prolific playwright – is one of 18 members of a group that will advise the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) as it develops proposals for updating its guidance on management commentary in financial reports. Other members of the Management Commentary Consultative Group include representatives from the Financial Reporting Council and KPMG.Marcus Madureira, Director of Planning at Brazilian pension fund PREVI, has resigned from the PRI board, leaving an additional asset owner position available. The board is looking to fill four positions in total – one investment manager and three asset owners – and is encouraging candidates from South America to apply.

Former APG chief executive Eduard van Gelderen is reportedly leaving his role as senior managing director of the $107bn (€91.4bn) University of California (UC) investment fund to take up a position as chief investment officer of Canada’s CAD153bn (€99bn) Public Sector Pension Investment Board. Van Gelderen will have held the position at UC’s investment office, which runs endowment, pension and cash assets, for less than a year.

Marjella Alma, CEO and co-founder of ESG data firm Datamaran, has joined the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)’s Global Forum for Sustainability as a member. Alma was formerly Director of the Global Reporting Initiative, becoming the youngest woman to head up the scheme at age 30.

Claire Veuthey, formerly Head of Asia Pacific Sales at Sustainalytics, has left Wells Fargo, where she was Head of ESG and a Senior Analyst in the Social Impact Investing team.

Douglas Bystry, President and Chief Executive Officer at Clearinghouse Community Development Financial Institution, has been elected Chairman of the Advisory Board for the California Opportunity Investment Network (COIN).

Rudy Verstappen has left his role as Project Manager at VBDO, the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development, after more than eight years in the role to take on a role as Senior Manager Sustainability at DPA Sustainability. The VBDO is recruiting here.

Hilkka Komulainen has taken on a new role as Manager, Climate Change and Sustainability Services at accounting firm EY. Formerly with the Princples for Responsible Investment, she had stints at the OECD and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Nina Roehrbein has left her role as Manager – Reporting and Communication at Hermes to become Head of Communications at think tank the 2° Investing Initiative. The initiative is also looking for an office manager and two data scientists for its Berlin office.

Man Group is recruiting an ESG / Responsible Investment Associate to be based in its London office. The successful candidate will lead the investment management firm’s ESG/RI build out, and support the ESG and sales teams. Link