RI People & Appointments, June 1: Storebrand, Nordea, BlackRock, Allianz Global Investors, NY City Comptroller

Christine Tørklep Meisingset has left her position as Head of ESG Research at Storebrand Asset Management after 14 years with the firm. She will take on her new role of Key Account Manager with waste management and recycling company Norsk Gjenvinning on September 1. She is available in the meantime via email. Questions on Storebrand’s sustainable Investments can be directed to Kristina.Picard@storebrand.no, Sara.Skarvad@spp.se, and Jan.Erik.Saugestad@storebrand.com.

Blackrock has hired Verity Chegar as a Vice President, and member of its Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment team. Chegar will work as a global ESG analyst responsible for researching fundamental environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) trends and their implications for investment and engagement within BlackRock’s active investment strategies. Chegar previously worked at Allianz Global Investors as an ESG analyst. She also serves on the Standards Council Subcommittee of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and is a former Steering Committee member of the Sustainable Investment Research Analyst Network (SIRAN).

Scott Zdrazil has joined the New York City Comptroller’s Office – Bureau of Asset Management, Corporate Governance Unit, as its Director of Strategy and Corporate Engagement. He was previously Director of Governance at Amalgamated Bank for seven years.

Radford Small has been named as the new Senior Vice President of Business Development and Investor Relations at SolarCity, the Nasdaq-listed clean energy firm. He was previously Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Clean Technology and Renewables group at Goldman Sachs. Link

SITAWI Finance for Good, the Brazilian nonprofit organization for sustainable finance transform, has appointed Franklin Feder, independent adviser and former CEO of Alcoa Latin America & Caribbean, to its board. Feder is on the advisory boards of five other social organizations.

Derek Dorn has been appointed as Vice-President of Public Policy and Associate General Counsel at the US investment giant TIAA–CREF. Formerly a partner at a US law firm, he served as Staff Director of a Senate finance sub-committee and as counsel to former Senators Jeff Bingaman and Joe Lieberman. Link

Diane Regas has been named Executive Director of the Environmental Defense Fund, the US not-for-profit environmental body. She was formerly Senior Vice President for Programs. Gwen Ruta becomes SVP, Climate & Energy. Announcement

Leading lawyer Philip Marshall QC has reportedly been hired by a group of disgruntled shareholders to represent them in a legal case relating to Tesco’s accounting scandal. Media reports in the UK said he is known for representing soccer giant Liverpool FC to fight off a challenge to the club’s last change of ownership by Fenway Sports Group in 2010.

Peter Gilson, investment manager at venture capital firm Northstar Ventures, has been appointed to manage the £9m (€12.5m) North East Social Enterprise Fund, which is backed by Big Society Capital, the Northern Rock Foundation and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. The fund invests from £100,000 to £1m in social enterprises in the North East of England.Antti Savilaakso, Director of Responsible Investments and Governance, Finland at Nordea Investment Management, has left the company after almost four and a half years to join MSCI ESG Research as its European Head of ESG Research. At MSCI, Savilaakso will be responsible for the EMEA-based analyst team and reports to Linda-Eling Lee, Global Head of MSCI ESG Research. Before Nordea, Savilaakso worked with ESG analysis and corporate engagement at Responsible Research in Singapore, Dexia Asset Management in Brussels, and ABN AMRO Asset Management in Amsterdam. He has conducted ESG and related ethical analysis on more than a thousand companies globally.

David Diamond, director and global co-head of ESG at Allianz Global Investors, is to take a sabbatical for a year. Talking to RI, he said he would be travelling and spending time with family.

Nick O’Donohoe is to step down as CEO of Big Society Capital at the end of the year. A former global head of research at JP Morgan, O’Donohoe created the blueprint for establishing a social investment bank with Sir Ronald Cohen in 2011 and went on to lead the organisation. Big Society Capital will advertise for a new chief executive shortly. Link

The Calvert Foundation, the US foundation formed in 1988 by SRI firm Calvert, is currently hiring a Financial Controller, a Director Treasury, and a Legal Director.

A chair is being sought for the new pooled London collective investment vehicle by London Councils, the body that represents London’s 32 borough councils and the City of London. Also being sought are an Investment Oversight Director and Non-Executive Director. Advertisement

A Group Head – Sustainable Markets is being sought by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the London-based policy and research organisation. Its Sustainable Markets Group works for a vision of markets that promote sustainable development at local and global levels; the IIED is looking for a senior research professional to manage and lead the group.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the UK watchdog, has announced new members to the Conduct Committee, Audit & Assurance Council and Monitoring Committee. They are Peter Baxter, previously chief executive officer & chief investment officer of Old Mutual Asset Managers, Kari Hale, audit partner at Deloitte, and James Coyle, previously group financial controller at Lloyds Banking Group.

Generation Investment Management is hiring
an intern to join its Climate Solutions Fund (CSF) team in London for at least three months over the summer. The position will involve working closely with the CSF portfolio managers to help define a strategy for future growth equity funds.

The European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif), is recruiting a Head of EU Policy and Research. Based in Brussels, the role entails assisting the Executive Director with matters of public policy and managing various research projects.

Campaign group Human Rights Watch is recruiting a researcher within its Women’s Rights Division. Reporting to the Deputy Director, the role will focus on researching the impacts of large-scale international land acquisitions on women’s human rights in Africa and Asia.