RI People & Appointments, November 6: Generali’s Mosman named succeed to Kemna at APG

Annette Mosman, CEO of the Generali Nederland insurance company, has been named to succeed Angelien Kemna as Chief Finance and Risk Officer at APG Asset Management, the €456bn Dutch pension investment firm. Bart le Blanc, Chairman of APG’s Supervisory Board: “APG and the Supervisory Board owe Angelien a debt of gratitude. As CEO of Asset Management she has made a major contribution to the further professionalization of APG’s asset management organization and to the investment policy in line with the long-term objectives of our pension fund clients.” He added: “We are enthusiastic about Annette’s arrival and wish her a great deal of success in her new role.”

Former Asset Owners Disclosure Project CEO Julian Poulter has joined Mark Fulton’s Energy Transition Advisors (ETA) as a partner. Fulton is the former Head of Research at DB Climate Change Advisors and an ex-Co-Chair of the UNEP FI Climate Change Working Group. Fulton told RI that he was “delighted” that Poulter had joined the organisation as it looks forward “to being an ongoing part of the climate finance dialogue”. RI reported in June that UK based campaign group, Shareaction, had taken on the AODP, the body which ranks the climate-related financial disclosures of the world’s largest pension funds, insurers, sovereign wealth funds and endowments.

Vincent Compiegne, Senior ESG Analyst at Axa Investment Managers, has joined Candriam, the €108bn asset manager (formerly known as Dexia) that is now owned by New York Life, with the same title. Solange Le Jeune, ESG Analyst at Schroders, who also joins as Senior ESG Analyst. Based out of Candriam’s Paris office and London offices, they will report to Wim Van Hyfte, Global Head of Responsible Investments and Research.

Mark Hyde-Harrison, the former chair of the UK’s National Association of Pension Funds (now the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association), has taken over as interim CEO at the London Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV) after the resignation of Hugh Grover. London CIV was set up in 2015 and is the first regulated investment management company set up by local government, for local government in the UK; it now has more than £5.6bn of assets under management. Hyde-Harrison is a former Head of Defined Contribution Strategy at Willis Towers Watson and CEO of the Barclays UK Retirement Fund.

Denita Wawn and John Edwards have been appointed to the Board of Directors at Australia’s $40bn construction and building industry superannuation fund, Cbus. Wawn, National Chief Executive Officer of the Master Builders Association, will replace long-serving Director, Wilhelm Harnisch. Edwards, a former Chief Economist for Australia and New Zealand for HSBC, replaces John Dawkins.

Sustainable development pioneer and architect, William McDonough, has joined the Advisory Board of Agilyx, the US based “closed loop” recycled plastics petrochemical specialist.

Brian Cahill, Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Moody’s, has been made Global Executive Sponsor of the rating agency’s ESG initiatives as the firm ramps up its ESG commitment. Ilya Serov, Associate Managing Director in Asia-Pacific, Yasmina Serghini, Associate Managing Director in EMEA, and Managing Director, Jim Hempstead in Americas, additionally, will lead Moody’s regional ESG working groups. Rahul Ghosh, a Senior Vice President in London, will contribute to Moody’s global green bond franchise and support broader ESG thematic research and outreach initiatives. Ian Lewis, an Associate Managing Director, will oversee Moody’s ESG research initiatives with a focus on the areas of carbon transition risk, climate change and corporate governance.Wouter van Eechoud, director of the €5bn Dutch pension fund of IBM, has reportedly been appointed to the board of Eumedion, the Dutch corporate governance platform. IPE reported that Van Eechoud, formerly with pension regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), succeeds Triodos’ Erik Breen. Marcel Andringa, executive trustee at €46bn metals sector scheme PME, has been appointed Eumedion’s treasurer.

Jella Benner-Heinacher has been elected President of Better Finance, a European federation of investors and financial services users. Benner-Heinacher is the Deputy Chief Managing Director of Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz (DSW), Germany’s main shareholder association, and Chair of the partnership Expert Corporate Governance Service, of which DSW is a member. Benner-Heinacher said in a statement that being President of Better Finance is an opportunity to promote topics such as the simplification of cross-border voting rights of shareholders via the digitisation campaign of the EU Commission.

Baer Pettit, Chief Operating Officer at MSCI, has been named as President at the US-based index and ESG research provider. Reporting to CEO Henry Fernandez, he will now be responsible for MSCI’s business functions, including product management, research and operations. Chief Client Officer Laurent Seyer adds Pettit’s former COO role. Seyer – a former CEO of Lyxor Asset Management and head of global clients at AXA Investment Managers – joined MSCI in 2014.

Charles Cain has been named chief of the SEC’s Enforcement Division’s national specialized Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Unit that focuses on violations of US anti-bribery provisions. He has been acting chief since April 2017; before that he was Deputy Chief of the Unit. Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, said: “Charles ‘wrote the book’ on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and his strong leadership ensures that the great work of the FCPA Unit continues.” Announcement

Olaug Svarva, CEO of the $27bn Government Pension Fund of Norway, also known as Folketrygdfondet, has reportedly resigned after nearly 12 years with the fund. Lars Tronsgaard, Deputy Managing Director, will serve as interim CEO.

George Botic will succeed S. Bruce Wilson as the Director of International Affairs at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the US body.

Paul Kazarian, CEO of investment firm Japonica Partners and one of the largest private holders of Greek government bonds, will be adjunct professor of public financial management at Columbia Business School as part of the recently launched Sovereign Risk Initiative. Kazarian has been actively involved in campaigns to increase the transparency and financial reporting in the government sector.

Reliance Bank, the UK-based ethical bank wholly owned by Christian charity the Salvation Army, is recruiting a Managing Director to implement its new strategic plan.

New York-listed asset manager Eaton Vance, which recently acquired SRI firm Calvert, is looking to recruit a Responsible Investments Product Manager to “maintain a comprehensive understanding of all RI investment strategies and asset classes” and serve as the primary specialist for RI Index strategies.

UK based charitable trusts, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, are looking for a joint Executive Director “to help lead significant organisational change and improvement”.

US SIF, the country’s Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, is currently looking to hire a Deputy Director to lead the implementation of its strategic plan.