RI People & Appointments, June 24: International Integrated Reporting Council CEO steps down

Richard Howitt, the former Member of the European Parliament who did much to promote the CSR agenda at the European level, has stepped down as CEO of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) after nearly three years in the role. The IIRC plans to announce an interim CEO shortly and a formal search for a new CEO will be conducted by the board.

Paul Druckman has been appointed Chairman of the World Benchmarking Alliance’s (WBA) Supervisory Board. The WBA was launched last year by founding members Aviva, the United Nations Foundation and Index Initiative to develop a framework of measuring corporate performance against the SDGs. Druckman – founding CEO of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) – replaces former healthcare sector executive Wim Leereveld who first published the Access to Medicine Index.

Cornelia Diethelm has been appointed to the board of Ethos Services, the Swiss proxy voting advisory firm which is a subsidiary of Swiss statutory body the Ethos Foundation. Diethelm is the founder of the Centre for Digital Responsibility, a cyber ethics think tank, and is a former Sustainability Manager for the Migros cooperatives who make up Switzerland’s largest retail company and supermarket chain.

Gwen Le Berre has been named Head of Responsible Investing at Parametric Portfolio Associates, a Seattle-based affiliate of Calvert’s parent Eaton Vance that has $245.2bn in assets under management. She joins next month and takes over from Jennifer Sireklove, who becomes Managing Director, Investment Strategy. Le Berre was formerly Director of Investment Stewardship at Charles Schwab Investment Management and was previously Vice President, Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment, at BlackRock.

Daniel Oh has been appointed Managing Director of Corporate Governance (US) at corporate governance and proxy services provider Morrow Sodali where he will advise corporate clients on a range of ESG issues. Oh is a former BlackRock Vice President for Investment Stewardship, and was most recently a Senior Vice President at gold miner Barrick Gold where he led the investor relations function.

Mariana Wheatley is to join Altiorem, a sustainable finance hub start-up founded by Colonial First State Global Asset Management’s Pablo Berrutti, as a full-time Business Analyst. Altiorem – which is due to launch later this year – aims to “identify, collect and curate” existing resources of sustainability information for use by the finance sector.

Mark den Hollander has been appointed Chief Financial & Risk Officer (CFRO) of Robeco. He will be responsible for Business Control & Finance, the Financial and Operational Risk Management teams, Fiscal Affairs, Legal Affairs, Compliance and the Investment Restrictions team. He has over 25 years of experience in the asset management industry: he held several positions at NN Investment Partners (formerly known as ING Investment Management) (2009-2018) and ABN AMRO Asset Management (1993-2009). His most recent position at NN Investment Partners was CFRO.

Ché McGann has joined Clearstream Solutions as a Sustainability Consultant. The Dublin-based company provides carbon management and sustainability services to improve corporate environmental performance.Denise Voss has been appointed Chair of LuxFLAG, the Grand Duchy’s sustainable fund labelling agency, succeeding former European Fund Administration chief executive Thomas Seale. Voss takes over just as LuxFLAG reported a 30% increase in labels issued in 2018. Voss is a Franklin Templeton executive overseeing its Luxembourg fund operation and a former Chair of ALFI, the Luxembourg fund association.

Emily Murrell has left her role as Head of Sustainable Finance and Futures Cities Policy at HSBC to join the World Bank Group as International Affairs Officer. She will report directly to the World Bank Special Representative for the UK and Ireland.

Kaspar Lorenzen has been named Group CIO of Denmark’s largest commercial pension scheme PFA and will be appointed to its executive board, taking over the Chairmanship of PFA Asset Management from CEO Allan Polack. Lorenzen was poached from national competitor ATP, which is currently seeking a replacement for the vacated CIO position.

Separately, ATP has appointed interim CEO Bo Foged permanently to the post, despite his claim in December that he was not a candidate for the position. Foged was previously CFO and will be replaced by Martin Præstegaard in September, who joins from Denmark’s Ministry of Finance where he is a Permanent Secretary.

Nicolas Calcoen, Head of Finance, Strategy and Public Affairs of Amundi, has been elected to a two-year term as President of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), during the Brussels-based umbrella body’s recent AGM. Myriam Vanneste of Candriam and Jarkko Syyrilä of Nordea were elected Vice Presidents. Tanguy van de Werve, Director General of EFAMA, said that the appointments would support achieving the twin goals of bridging the retirement income gap and “ensuring the transition towards a more sustainable development model”.

Corinne Lamesch, Fidelity International’s top Luxembourg executive and its Head of Legal – Europe, has been appointed Chairperson of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI). Commenting, Lamesch listed sustainable finance as an immediate priority, saying: “ALFI will remain committed to making the EU Action Plan a success and actively promote sustainable finance opportunities.”

Jaimie Mayer has been named Chair of US philanthropic group, the Nathan Cummings Foundation (NCF). The Foundation most recently filed a shareholder resolution at Amazon’s AGM requesting the company to report on its efforts to address hate speech. Mayer is granddaughter of NCF founder Nathan Cummings and is a theatre and film producer who has served on the board for 18 years.

BNP Paribas is seeking a Boston-based ESG Analyst to evaluate corporate performance in the Technology and Communication Services & Health Care sectors, in addition to engaging with selected companies. The role supports implementation of the asset manager’s Global Sustainable Policy which include setting targets on energy transition, environmental sustainability and equality.

The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust is seeking a York-based Responsible Investment Officer who will coordinate with investment managers and grantees to ensure that its endowment is managed in accordance with the Trust’s mission. The position is for three days a week.