RI People & Appointments, July 29: UK pension fund Brunel looks for CEO

The UK’s Brunel Pension Partnership has officially started looking for a new CEO, following the resignation of Dawn Turner earlier this month. The £30bn (€34.9bn) public pension fund, which was set up in 2017, described itself in a blog post from Independent Chair Denise Le Gal as “seeking to establish best practice in areas such as responsible investment” as well as risk management, cost efficiency and transparency. The CEO will oversee 40 staff and report to the Chair. The role is based in Bristol and the salary is negotiable, according to Le Gal. Applications close on September 9. Turner said in her resignation letter that she would step down by the end of September because Brunel required “a different style of leadership”.
Brunel has also this week named Patrick Newberry as Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Risk and Compliance Committee, pending FCA approval. Newberry is a former partner at consultancy giant PWC.
Yvonne Suter, Head of Sustainable Investment at Credit Suisse, has left the Swiss investment bank. Her replacement has not been named. Suter spent 14 years at the bank – six in her most recent role.
James Barty has left the Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he oversaw global cross asset strategy to join the Church Commissioners as Director of Investment Strategy, a newly-created role.
Clarmondial, the Swiss investment advisory, has appointed Karla Canavan, Vice President Commodity Trade and Finance at WWF, and Agustin Silvani, Senior Vice President, Conservation Finance at Conservation International to a new advisory group for its Food Securities Fund. The Fund invests in agriculture production in the emerging markets and counts on a guarantee from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).Maxime Ménard, President and CEO of Canadian investment house Jarislowsky Fraser, has joined the board of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG), serving on both the Public Policy and Finance/Audit committees. Jarislowsky Fraser founder Stephen Jarislowsky co-founded the CCGG in 2002 to help improve shareholder protection.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the controversial pro-Brexit UK MP, has reportedly left Somerset Capital Management, the emerging market investment house he co-founded in 2007 and which became a signatory to the United Nations backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) last year. His departure follows his appointment to a UK Government post last week.
Former UK energy minster Claire Perry has been appointed COP26 President, ahead of next year’s crucial United Nations climate talks, which the UK is reportedly favourite to host. On Twitter, Perry, who was most recently Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, said she had asked new Prime Minister Boris Johnson if she chould “relinquish the broader Clean Growth and Energy portfolio and he has agreed”.
Australian insurer QBE is looking for a Senior Manager ESG Risk to join its Sydney-based team.
Chitra Hepburn has been appointed by MSCI as Head of ESG Client Coverage for the Asia-Pacific region and will be responsible for the growth of MSCI ESG Research in this market. She will report to Jack Lin, Head of APAC Client Coverage. Hepburn was previously a Managing Director at sustainability consultancy ESG Global, and prior to that a sustainability and communications executive at Bayer.