RI People & Appointments, March 26: New role for former UNEP FI head Clements-Hunt

Paul Clements-Hunt, who resigned as head of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) in February, has founded a new Geneva-based corporate and investment advisory company, The Blended Capital Group. The company will launch in May and says it will have partners or affiliates in Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Cape Town, Geneva, London, Sao Paulo and Vancouver. Clements-Hunt was previously on the board of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) and the International Integrated Reporting Committee and had been involved in both initiatives from inception.

David Blumer, the Chief Investment Officer of reinsurer SwissRe and former CEO of Credit Suisse Asset Management, has been appointed to the board of sustainable investment boutique SAM. Karin van Baardwijk, Senior Vice President of Operational Risk Management at parent firm Robeco, also becomes a director.

General Wesley Clark, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe has joined the board of thin-film solar cell manufacturer SoloPower. Clark is also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative’s Energy & Climate Change Advisory Board and the Advisory Board of the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE).

Alex Doñé has been named as Executive Director for Private Equity/Emerging Managers, a new role within the Bureau of Asset Management at the New York City Comptroller’s Office. He will be responsible for leading the New York City Pension Funds’ commitment to minority and women-owned firms. Doñé was most recently Associate Director for Business Development at the US Department of Commerce-Minority Business Development Agency. Link
Marianne Dicander Alexandersson has resigned as chief executive of SEK19.9bn (€2.2bn) Swedish national fund Sjätte AP-fonden (AP6) to become CEO of Swedish drugs company Global Health Partner. Chief Financial Officer Adam Laurén has been appointed interim CEO. Link (Swedish)*Professor Timothy Reeves* has been appointed chair of Australia’s Domestic Offsets Integrity Committee, an independent expert panel under the country’s Carbon Farming Initiative. Reeves is Professorial Fellow at the Melbourne School of Land and Environment and a director of The Future Farm Industries Cooperative Research Centre. Other panel members include Dr Tony Press, Professor Lynette Abbott, Rebecca Burdon, Dr Brian Keating and Shayleen Thompson. Link

Neil Rogan is standing down as Head of Global Equities at Henderson Global Investors to spend more time with his family. He will be succeeded by Matthew Beesley, who joins from Trinity Asset Management. Link

Ellinor Örtegren Johanson has been appointed general manager of Sweden-based AMF Fonder, the funds arm of pensions provider and UN PRI signatory AMF. She was most recently compliance manager at Ålandsbanken. AMF has assets of SEK372 billion and is owned equally by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.

Oxford University Professor Dieter Helm has been appointed chair of the Natural Capital Committee, an advisory panel to the UK government. The group is charged with showing how natural capital can help drive sustainable economic growth.

Sheikh Muddassir Siddiqui, Islamic finance partner with law firm SNR Denton in Dubai, has resigned to become a sharia investment advisor, according to a Reuters report. SNR Denton’s Islamic finance team will now be led by partners Paul Jarvis and Martin Brown in the Middle East and Richard de Belder, Paul Holland and Matthew Sapte in London, the report added.

Ansvar, the ethical insurance firm that is part of church charity-owned Ecclesiastical, is seeking a Sales & Marketing Director. “This is an exciting time in Ansvar’s development as we significantly grow our business whilst remaining a commercial organisation with a social concern,” the ad states.