RI People & Appointments, May 7: New Deputy CEO at Switzerland’s Ethos

Vincent Kaufmann has been appointed deputy CEO of Ethos, the Swiss pension fund-backed governance advisor. He will work closely with CEO Dominique Biedermann, remaining responsible for fund management, controlling and IT. A member of Ethos Services’ executive board since 2011, Kaufmann joined Ethos in 2004 as corporate governance analyst.

The advisory council for Germany’s Global Challenges Index (GCX), which decides the composition of the 50-member sustainable equity index, has appointed a new chairman. The council said Rolf Krämer, vice president of the Protestant-Lutheran Church in Hanover, would succeed Hermann Falk as chair. Falk has stepped down from this post to join the German Association for Renewable Energy as a managing director. Krämer has served on the council since the GCX’s launch in 2007. The index is run jointly by the Hanover bourse and German ESG research firm oekom.

Sarasin & Partners has confirmed that its Head of Governance and Environmental and Social Research, Adam Frost, has left the company to “pursue a new life with his family in Switzerland”. The firm is looking to replace Frost following an appropriate recruitment search.

Justine Hickey has resigned as a director of Australian Ethical Investment, according to an announcement by the company. She was re-elected at the AGM in November 2012, although she advised shareholders that she would not serve a full term and that the timing of her resignation would depend on the appointment of new directors. Hickey is a director of Rio Tinto Staff Superannuation Fund and chairs the Youth Enterprise Trust Foundation.

Louis Redshaw has resigned as head of carbon, coal and iron ore trading at Barclays, according to a Bloomberg report citing two unnamed sources.Giuseppe van der Helm, the Executive Director of Dutch sustainability forum the VBDO and the President of Eurosif, has taken on the additional role of president of campaign group Tax Justice NL. The body is a network of eight Dutch social organizations: Oxfam Novib, Oikos, SOMO, Cordaid, Both Ends, Evert Vermeer Stichting, Transnational Institute and Action Aid.

Former California State Treasurer Phil Angelides has been awarded the fifth annual Joan Bavaria Award for Building Sustainability into the Capital Markets, named in honour of the social investing pioneer who died in 2008. Angelides is currently President of Riverview Capital Investments, a real estate investment firm which focuses on clean energy projects and sustainable urban development.

Dale Wannen, former Portfolio Manager and Director of Shareholder Advocacy with US fund manager Harrington Investments, has founded a new firm called Sustainvest Asset Management focused on sustainable and responsible investing. The firm focuses on investment management for individuals, foundations and non-profit organizations.

Phil Bloomer has been named Executive Director of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, the human rights information hub, succeeding Christopher Avery. Bloomer was most recently with Oxfam GB as Director of the Campaigns and Policy Division. Announcement

Chris Hogg has been named as chief executive of Royal Mail Pension Trustees. Hogg, currently head of funding at the Royal Mail Pension Trustees board, takes over from the retiring Gerry Degaute.

Yasushi Ujioka has been named by Singapore-based Armstrong Asset Management as Investment Director for its new $150m South East Asia Clean Energy Fund. The fund, scheduled for final close in August 2013, is claimed to be the first clean energy fund dedicated to the region.