RI People & Appointments, March 23: imug, WRI, Climate Bonds Initiative, Meketa

Silke Stremlau, Head of Sustainable Investment at imug, the German ESG (environmental, social and governance) research firm, is leaving on October 1 to join the Board of Trustees at BIB, a bank with €4.4bn in assets that serves the Catholic bishopric for the city of Essen. Stremlau joined Hanover-based imug in 2000 with the task of building its ESG research business. In an interview with Responsible Investor last July, she said the firm, which cooperates with UK peer EIRIS, employed a total of nine ESG specialists that advised 30 institutional clients. Stremlau’s successor is Tommy Piemonte, currently in charge of evaluating bonds issued by banks.

Paul Bodnar is joining the World Resources Institute (WRI), the environmental think tank, as a senior advisor for its Sustainable Finance Center. He will help lead the Finance Center’s work on climate finance technical analysis, strategy and policy. He was most recently at the White House as director for Climate Change and Environment at the National Security Council, where he helped coordinate the historic US-China climate deal announced by President Obama and President Xi in November 2014, the $3bn US pledge to the Green Climate Fund, and President Obama’s participation in the UN Climate Summit in New York. Before that he was director for Climate Finance at the State Department and US lead negotiator for climate finance in the UNFCCC. Earlier in his career, Bodnar worked at London-based fund manager Climate Change Capital. Announcement

Tom Baumann, chair of the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) committee developing climate change related standards, has joined the Climate Bonds Standards Industry Working Group. The working group reviews the practicality of proposed eligibility criteria, looks at reporting and verification mechanisms, and operation of certification. Baumann is Co-founder and Director of Knowledge Management at the GHG Management Institute, the US-based nonprofit body.

Meketa Investment Group, the US investment consultant which is a signatory to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), has expanded its London office with the relocation of Senior Vice President Timothy Atkinson. Atkinson, who joined Meketa in 2008, was previously based in the firm’s Boston office where he was responsible for investment manager research and client servicing. The firm, which consults on more than $335bn in assets for over 100 clients, opened its London office in June 2014.Maria Silvia Bastos has joined the board at Marsh & McLennan Companies, the parent of investment consulting firm Mercer. A former insurance executive, she is currently Special Advisor to the Mayor for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, having previously been CEO of Rio’s Olympic Company. She is also a trustee of the Brazilian Foundation for Sustainable Development. Link

Reena Aggarwal, Pedro A.C. Saffi and Jason Sturgess have been named as winners of the Global Challenge for Innovation in Corporate Governance run by fund manager BlackRock and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) trade body. The three academics, at the universities of Georgetown, Cambridge and DePaul respectively, won for their “The Role of Institutional Investors in Voting: Evidence from the Securities Lending Market” paper. They will be recognized at the upcoming NACD Strategy & Risk Forum on May 12–13 in San Diego. The winning paper uses data from the securities lending market to examine how institutional investors influence the proxy voting process.

Trevor Langford has resigned from his position as Sales Director at Daiwa SB, the Tokyo- and London-based fund manager. He is now on gardening leave until 14 August. Daiwa SB is a signatory to the UN-supported PRI. Langford’s recent responsibilities included raising institutional assets for Japanese and Pacific Basin equity investment. He was also on the board of the firm’s first Luxembourg SICAV, which launched in 2013. He was previously Director, Head of Marketing at Daiwa SB, having been with the company for more than 10 years.

Rainer Riess has been confirmed as Director General of the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE), the stock exchange industry group. Riess, former Managing Director of Deutsche Börse, had been serving as interim Director General since August last year. Deputy Director General Burçak Inel is taking a “family break” after 10 years with FESE. Richard Gardiner, who has been with FESE since 2010, has been promoted to be the new Head of Public and Regulatory Affairs. Announcement

Experts are being sought by the Clean Development Mechanism, one of the flexibility mechanisms defined in the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM Executive Board, at its 82nd meeting, launched a call for new members of panels and working groups and for experts for the Registration and Issuance Team. The call is open until March 31.