RI People & Appointments, June 17: LGPS Central, PRI, CalSTRS, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change

Valborg Lie has been appointed Stewardship Manager at UK local authority pension pool LGPS Central where she will be responsible for bespoke engagement and voting services to support investment objectives. This includes the design and delivery of an Annual Stewardship Plan and managing third-party stewardship providers. Lie – founder of sustainable investing adviser Borg Consulting – previously oversaw RI activities at the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund.

Shelagh Whitley has joined the Principles for Responsible Investment as Director of ESG, joining from the Overseas Development Institute think tank where she was Head of the Climate and Energy Programme. A Canadian national, she has had various roles in environmental markets and sustainability, having started her career as an intern at pioneering ESG firm KLD Research & Analytics (now part of MSCI).

Arthur van Mansvelt has left ethical fund manager Triodos Investment Management, where he was a Senior Sustainability Analyst, to join Dutch investor Achmea Investment Management, according to an email to his contacts.

Mark Thompson is to leave his role as CIO of HSBC’s UK pension fund to join local authority pension scheme London CIV in September later this year. In his time at HSBC, Thompson oversaw the development of Legal & General Investment Management’s “climate-tilted” Future World Fund, which subsequently became the default equity option for the fund’s DC component.

Walter Hatak has been named head of responsible investing at Erste Asset Management, the Austrian fund firm with €61bn in assets under management, according to media reports citing a company announcement. He was most recently a senior SRI analyst at the firm.

Sonja Laud is to replace Anton Ester as CIO of LGIM, after the latter’s sudden resignation say reports. Formerly Head of Equity at Fidelity International, Laud joined LGIM as Deputy CIO in January. She has supported the recognition of ESG factors as material, speaking on a recent webinar with economist Lord Stern on the matter.

Amanda Cimaglia has been recruited by investor relations and communications firm Solebury Trout to lead on their new ESG offering. Cimaglia previously oversaw ESG reporting and investor relations at clean energy investor Hannon Armstrong. She has served on ESG working groups for the American Council on Renewable Energy and the New York Stock Exchange.Geraldine Jimenez has been named Director of Investment Strategy and Risk, a new unit at the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) whose goal is to improve the fund’s risk-adjusted returns “through a total fund research and decision-making structure”. She was formerly the portfolio manager leading the CalSTRS Investment Engagement Unit, which researched investment information on external issues such as legislation or ESG issues. Jimenez will report to Deputy Chief Investment Officer Scott Chan. Before joining CalSTRS in 2015, Jimenez spent over 25 years fellow Californian pension giant CalPERS.

Grégoire Haenni has been appointed to the Board of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), according to a filing by the climate shareholder network. Haenni is the CIO of the €10.9bn Geneva public pension fund, Caisse de prévoyance de l’Etat de Genève (CPEG), and oversaw its recent divestment of coal businesses.

Michael T. Dieschbourg has been appointed Head of Responsibility and Stewardship North America at Hermes Investment Management by Federated Investors, the majority shareholder of the asset manager. Dieschbourg was previously a Senior Vice President for Alternative and Managed Risk Products at Federated.

Clare Richards, formerly a Programme Manager at shareholder campaign group ShareAction, has joined the Church of England Pensions Board as a Senior Engagement Manager where she is to lead direct engagement with portfolio companies and liaise with asset managers. While at ShareAction she coordinated with key external stakeholders, managed grant funding and led on social issues.

Odrey Robillard has joined Quebec pension fund Fonds de solidarité FTQ which invests in local SMEs to generate both returns and economic activity. Robillard is an engagement professional, previously at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), where she oversaw voting and stewardship for the utilities, materials and insurance sectors. She also contributed to CDPQ’s climate policy.

London Climate Change Partnership, the centre for expertise on climate adaptation in London, is seeking a new Chair for a three year term, with the possibility of a subsequent term. The successful candidate will replace current Chair Professor Chris Rapley, a Professor of Climate Science at University College London.