RI People & Appointments, March 5: Generation, Actiam, Sustainalytics, Glass Lewis

Generation Investment Management has had a shake-up in recent weeks, seeing the departure of a number of veteran employees and the promotion and appointment of three others. Generation confirmed to RI that it’s President, Peter Knight – a Partner at the firm for 14 years – has retired. Greg Wasserman, who had been a Partner there for eight years, has also now left. He joined new merchant bank Galaxy Digital, where he will co-head the venture capital business, focused on investing in companies developing blockchain technologies and using blockchain and smart contracts. The moves come just weeks after RI reported that Generation would cease to offer credit funds, resulting in the departure of portfolio managers Julian Curtis and Mike Ramsay. Meanwhile, Anna Charlotte Sullivan has been promoted to Partner, along with Paul Coates. Former Co-Head of private equity house General Atlantic’s European office, John Bernstein, was appointed in January as a Partner and Chair of Generation’s Growth Equity Investment Committee.
Actiam’s Responsible Investment Officer, Maxime Molenaar, has taken a sabbatical. Molenaar has been with the company for four years, where she led its climate change efforts and coordinated its ESG reports, but has now relocated to Perth for a year. In a LinkedIn post she said she would “be searching for projects/companies/causes that I can contribute to here in Perth, so any advice or contacts are welcome”.
Governance specialist Sarah Smart has joined Avida International as a Senior Advisor. Smart is a Board Member of the UK’s Big Society Capital, Chair of TPT Retirement Solutions and Senior Independent Director and Chair of the audit committee for the UK Pensions Regulator. She also chairs the Financial Times Pensions Governance Committee. She was previously with Standard Life Investments. Avida advises pension funds and institutional investors on governance and services.
The International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) has named banking heavyweight Cyrus Ardalan as its new Chair of the Board of Directors, replacing Rene Karsenti. Ardalan has been a member of the board since 2013, as well as being the Non-Executive Director and Chairman of Citigroup Global Markets, Chairman of OakNorth Bank and Chairman of the Financial Services Advisory Board of Alvarez and Marsal. He previously held roles at Barclays, including Vice Chairman and Head of Public Policy and Government Relations, as well as Vice Chairman of Barclays Capital. Other senior roles include Global Head of Bonds, Global Head of Fixed Income Marketing and Head of Capital Markets Americas for BNP Paribas. He has also held positions at the World Bank, and was previously Chairman of the Board of the International Capital Markets Association. He described IFFIm as “one of best examples of socially responsible investing”.Anke Zschorn has been promoted to Director of Research for IVOX Glass Lewis, overseeing the production of all research from the Germany-based shareholder advisory group. Zschorn joined IVOX as a research analyst in 2008, becoming a member of the Glass Lewis team after the two firms merged in 2015.
German Church pension fund KZVK will take on Oliver Lang as its Head of Capital Investment and Accounting in April, as part of changes to its executive board. Lang has worked in insurance for two decades, most recently as an independent strategy consultant and project manager. He will replace Thomas Treptow. KZVK manages capital investments of more than €18bn.
Former Managing Director of Sustainalytics’ French arm, Antonio Celeste, has become Managing Partner at French boutique asset manager Roche-Brune AM. Celeste previously represented Sustainaytlics in Europe and the Middle East. He’ll now be responsible for innovation and distribution at the €440m ESG-focused fund manager.
The €68bn Dutch pension fund PMT has appointed Jos Brocken, board member since 2006, as employee’s chairman. He succeeds Jos Berghuis, who retired at the end of 2017 after 17 years in the position.
Arif Naqvi has stepped down as CEO of $13.6bn Abraaj Investment Management in a bid to restore investor confidence in the emerging market private equity heavyweight. The firm, which was founded by Naqvi in 2002, has been in the spotlight over concerns about the management of money in its health fund – set up to offer a private-sector alternative to government aid. Investors reportedly include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the IFC, CDC Group and Proparco Group. It has been criticised for not returning capital that had been unable to be deployed due to regulatory issues. The firm deny any wrongdoing and, following an investigation, KPMG concluded that money had not been mishandled. KPMG is also the firm’s auditor. Naqvi will remain CEO of Abraaj Holdings, its parent company, but the two firms will be separated to enable them to have independent boards and management teams. Omar Lodhi and Selcuk Yorgancioglu – both long-standing employees of Abraaj IM – have been appointed Co-Chief Executive Officers of the fund management business.
UK asset manager Jupiter Fund Management has announced the forthcoming retirement of Lorraine Trainer from its board, after eight years. She will continue to serve as a Non-Executive Director until the firm’s AGM on 16 May.
At the KAS Bank supervisory board, Tanja Nagel has been nominated as a replacement for Ron Icke, who will finish his eight-year term as Board Member in April. Nagel was CEO of Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers from 2009 until 2017. KAS is a service provider signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment.