RI People & Appointments, June 26: Invest Europe, 300 Club, Investor Advisory Committee, Free Speech for People

Marta Jankovic, Senior Responsible Investment and Governance Specialist at APG, the €433bn Dutch pension asset management firm owned by the civil service fund ABP, has been confirmed as the new Chair of Invest Europe, the former European Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (EVCA). Jankovic, who replaces Gerry Murphy, Senior Managing Director and Chairman of Blackstone Europe, will oversee the association’s development of its private equity data collection and its Professional Standards Handbook.

Jaap van Dam, Principal Director of Investment Strategy at €205bn Dutch pension investment giant PGGM, has joined the 300 Club. Founded by Hermes’ CEO Saker Nusseibeh, the 300 Club is a membership of investment professionals charged with raising “uncomfortable and fundamental questions” about the foundations of the investment landscape.

Shanna Cleveland is now Senior Counsel at Free Speech for People, a US democracy advocacy group. She previously led the Carbon Asset Risk Initiative at Ceres where she worked with institutional investors to engage with oil and gas companies on the issue of climate risk. Prior to this she was a Senior Attorney at Conservation Law Foundation in the Climate and Clean Energy Program. Free Speech for People was founded on the day of the Citizens United ruling in January 2010, leading the attack on what it sees as a “dangerous campaign finance decision and an extreme extension of the fabricated doctrine of corporate constitutional rights”.

Former Barclays CEO John Varley has resigned his Blackrock and Rio Tinto Board positions in the wake of allegations of fraud by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office. He along with four other former Barclays senior executives face charges relating to fundraising with Qatari investors in 2008 during the financial crisis.

William Nott, CEO of M&G Securities, has been elected president of EFAMA, the European Fund and Asset Management Association, the Brussels-based fund management trade body. Nicolas Calcoen, CFO at Amundi, becomes Vice President. Nott, who has just completed a two year term as Vice-President, succeeds Alexander Schindler. He has served on the EFAMA Board of Directors and the board of the Investment Association for a combined total of sixteen years.

Umar Ashfaq has joined the MSCI ESG Research team in New York primarily covering the utilities sector. He recently graduated with an MPA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where he was in the Environmental Science and Policy program. Prior to SIPA, Umar was CEO of Teach for Pakistan and helped pioneer an impact assessment initiative for the organization.Anne Sheehan, Director of Corporate Governance at $208.7bn US pension giant CalSTRS, has been elected Chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee – the SEC’s regulatory advisor. Sheehan, who has been acting-Chair since the departure in April of Kurt Schacht, Managing Director at the CFA Institute, has been a committee member since its establishment in 2012 as part of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The £25bn Brunel Pension Partnership Fund – one of the eight UK pooled local government pension funds– has appointed Mike Clark, former Director of Responsible Investment at Russell investments, and Steve Tyson, former CEO at Manulife Asset Manager, as Non-Executive Directors. The new directors will support recently appointed Chair, Denise Le Gal begin the recruitment process of the fund’s executive team. Frédérique Pierre-Pierre, a former Senior Executive at Deutsche Bank, was also named.

Simon Messenger, Managing Director at UK social enterprise Energy Saving Trust, has joined the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB), the international consortium of business and environmental NGOs, as its interim Managing Director. He replaces Mardi McBrien, who is taking a period of maternity leave.

UK Conservative MP Tracey Couch has reportedly been named as the new Minister for Civil Society, responsible for social investment and social enterprise in UK. She replaces former MP Rob Wilson who lost his seat in the recent election.

Kimberly Sargent has been named Chief Investment Officer of the Packard Foundation. Currently Senior Managing Director, she will take over from John Moehling, who will retire at the end of this year. Moehling joined the Foundation in 2007 as its first CIO, while Sargent joined a year later.

Paul Nathan has been appointed Chief Operating Officer at RPMI Railpen, where he will be responsible for the operating model to support all investment activity at the £25bn pension scheme and report to Managing Director Julian Cripps. He has had similar roles at Old Mutual Global Investors, the Church Commissioners and the Saïd Business School.

Jean-François Boulier has been elected president of Af2i, the French institutional investor association has elected Jean-François Boulier as its new president. He succeeds Jean Eyraud, who becomes honorary president and adviser to the president. Boilier was most recently at Aviva, where he was CEO and chairman of the management board of Aviva Investors France.