Philippe Desfossés, CEO of French superannuation fund ERAFP, has been appointed Vice Chair of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC). The IIGCC is a collaborative forum comprised of 122 investors, with over €13tn in assets under management, which seeks to influence public policies, investment practices and corporate behavior.
Metzler Asset Management has hired Dr. Axel Hesse to implement and develop ESG strategies in its portfolio management. He started with the firm on July 1. Hesse is a well known specialist in sustainable investment with more than 20 years of scientific and consultative experience in the field. He has developed recognised sustainability indices and supported the integration of ESG criteria in conventional investment processes.
Javier Manzanares has been named as interim Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund, the new South Korea-based multilateral fund. Currently Chief Financial Officer and Director of Support Services at the GCF, Manzanares will take the post when the term of current Executive Director Héla Cheikhrouhou concludes. The fund said it expects to have a new Executive Director in place by the end of 2016. Announcement
Jack Mahler, the former Head of Equities and Alternatives for the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, has reportedly been named as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s first Chief Investment Officer. Mahler joins the US foundation, which has a reported $3.65bn in investment assets, on August 15, according to Chief Investment Officer.
Arnold Wagner, the former Director of Human Resources at Smiths Group and a former Non-Executive Director at the UK Atomic Energy Authority, has been named as the new Chair of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), the UK pensions lifeboat scheme with a strong responsible investment stance. He was appointed a Non-Executive Director of the PPF in 2011 and is currently Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee. He succeeds Lady Barbara Judge, who is retiring.
Gerry Murphy, Senior Managing Director and Chairman of private equity giant Blackstone Europe, has succeeded Max Römer, Founding Partner of Quadriga Capital, as Chair of the Invest Europe, the association representing Europe’s private equity, venture capital and infrastructure sectors. Invest Europe was formerly the European Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (EVCA).
John Kingman, former Second Permanent Secretary to the UK Treasury, has been made Group Chairman at Legal & General, the insurance and asset management giant. He replaces interim chair Rudy Markham, who took over from John Stewart. Kingman was also previously CEO of UK Financial Investments, the organisation responsible for managing the Government’s shareholdings in Lloyds Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Northern Rock.
Thorhild Widvey, the former Norwegian Government minister, has been elected chair of Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy, Statkraft AS, replacing Olav Fjell. Peter Mellbye, Helene Biström and Bengt Ekenstierna have also been named as new additions to the board.Dutch pension investor PGGM has hired Charles Kalshoven, former senior economist at Shell, to take on a new role as a senior investment strategist. A former chief economist at Postbank and ING, Kalshoven’s latest work included working through a series of economic analyses and outlooks given certain criteria and modelling for various risk scenarios, before translating these findings into the impact they would have on stakeholders and Dutch consumers, said PGGM’s Director of Corporate Communications Wout Dekker. “At PGGM, we see his experience as an asset for the investment strategy team in the area of economic projections underlying the investment policy advice to PGGM’s Dutch pension fund clients,” he continued, adding that Kakshoven’s knowledge of commodity markets and project economics would be particularly useful.
Tomas Carruthers, chief executive of the UK’s Social Stock Exchange, has joined the trustee board of the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), the workplace pension scheme.
MSCI has announced that Remy Briand, Managing Director and Global Head of Research, has been appointed to lead the firm’s ESG and real estate product lines. Briand will continue to report to Baer Pettit, chief operating officer, in his expanded role.
Liz Goodwin, CEO of UK-based waste efficiency charity WRAP, has been appointed Senior Fellow and Director, Food Loss and Waste at environmental think tank the World Resources Institute (WRI). Goodwin will be responsible for advancing WRI’s food loss and waste engagement with companies and countries.
Peter Clarke, former CEO of Man Group, the world’s largest listed hedge fund company, has reportedly joined the board of UK-based active investment manager RWC Partners as its first Non-Executive Director. RWC has $11.7bn under management.
Ilan Daskal has resigned from troubled US solar power firm SunEdison just a few months after he was named chief financial officer designate, according to the Wall Street Journal. SunEdison, which filed for bankruptcy in April, also saw the resignation earlier of CEO Ahmad Chatila. Philip Gund was named CFO, the Journal said, adding he is a senior managing director of consulting firm Ankura Consulting Group.
Jim Minto has been named Acting CEO of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA). Minto, the former CEO of TAL Insurance and a past chair of AFSA, will take the role until a permanent replace is named for Pauline Vamos, who is leaving on July 15.
Bioethics International, the New York-based not-for-profit group focused on ethical standards in medicine, has expanded its team with the addition of four new staff members and three principal investigators. The new staff are: Tamara Hardoby; Nolan Ritcey; Luke Sleiter; Rosa Macrito; Joseph Ross; David Korn; and Michelle Mello.
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), a policy and research organisation promoting sustainable development, is looking to hire a Senior Researcher to join its Climate Change Group. The role will be based in either London or Edinburgh.
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