RI People & Appointments, June 25: Meritas founder Hawton honoured by Canadian SIO

Gary Hawton, the President of OceanRock Investments, was presented with the Canadian SRI Distinguished Service Award at the Social Investment Organization’s annual conference in Montreal last week. He was also appointed President of the board of the SIO after serving several years in other board positions. Hawton is best known as the founding CEO of Meritas SRI Funds. In 2010 Meritas Financial merged with Qtrade Fund Management to form OceanRock. Announcement

Sustainalytics, the environmental, social and governance (ESG) research house, has hired Alejandro Navarro as a Responsible Investment Adviser to help develop its business as a “brand ambassador” in South America. He will be based in Bogotá, Colombia.

Dick Marty, former Senator for the Swiss canton of Tessin (Ticino), will chair the board of trustees of the Ethos Académie, the new non-profit association launched by the Swiss pension fund-owned Ethos Foundation. The association aims to promote a stable and prosperous socio-economic environment – in the interest of future generations and the benefit of civil society as a whole.

Gerald McEntee has retired as president of the US public employee union AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) after 31 years. Lee Saunders, who becomes AFSCME’s first African American president, was previously AFSCME secretary-treasurer and McEntee’s executive assistant. Laura Reyes has been elected secretary-treasurer. Announcement

Catalina Secreteanu has joined Sustainalytics as a Responsible Investment Adviser. She joins from UKSIF, the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, where she was Programme Manager. She also had stints at think tank Tomorrow’s Company and research firm EIRIS.Jonathan Hooley has resigned as a non-executive director of Aqua Resources Fund Ltd., the water investment specialist run by FourWinds Capital Management. He joined the board in July 2011 and leaves to focus on his new role as a Jurat of the Royal Court in Guernsey, a legal role in the Channel Islands. He will be replaced by Charles Parkinson, the former Minister of Treasury and Resources for the States of Guernsey. Announcement

Archie Dunham, the former chairman of ConocoPhillips and former CEO of Conoco, has been appointed as the new independent non-executive chairman at natural gas firm Chesapeake Energy. It follows shareholder concerns about governance at the company which has seen CEO Aubrey McClendon relinquish the chairman role.

Alexander Zang has joined the board of Canadian carbon firm ERA Carbon Offsets. Zang is principal of Business Communications Consulting GmbH, which is a controlling shareholder of Forest Carbon Group. He replaces outgoing director Holger Mayer, who has resigned from ERA following his departure from Forest Carbon Group shareholder HSE AG, the German sustainable energy concern. Announcement

Brett Hammond has joined MSCI as Head of Index Applied Research, reporting to Remy Briand, Managing Director and Global Head of Index and ESG Research. Hammond joins from US pension investor TIAA–CREF where he was Chief Investment Strategist.

The Investor Relations Society, the UK trade body, is seeking a General Manager – “to guide the Society’s everyday activities, implement its strategy and ensure the financial stability of the organisation”. The role, which will become available due to the forthcoming retirement of Michael Mitchell, reports to the Chairman of the Society and liaises between the Board, the committees and the executive team. Link