Robert Walker, Vice President of ESG Services at Canada’s NEI Investments, is to leave his role early next year, according to parent company Aviso Wealth. “Daniel Solomon, SVP and Chief Investment Officer at NEI, will lead the team in the interim as we begin the search to find a new leader for this key role at NEI, the Asset Management division of Aviso Wealth,” said Asset Management head Frederick Pinto. Walker has led the ESG team since 1999 and was instrumental in applying responsible investment to the NEI funds range, Pinto said. He continued: “Differentiating around RI remains a core component of NEI’s strategy.” Walker will continue to work with NEI and Aviso in a consultative capacity. A former executive director of the Social Investment Organization (now known as the Responsible Investment Association), Walker is a past year chair of the Boreal Leadership Council and is also on the Board of Governors of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN).
Veteran activist investor Evelyn Davis – the “queen of the corporate jungle” – has passed away at the age of 89. Davis, a Dutch-born Holocaust survivor, spent more than five decades championing good corporate governance.
Martin Baumann will not take his role as Chair of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), the body that issues the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs), due to unforeseen circumstances. Baumann was Chief Auditor and Director of Professional Standards at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), and before that CFO for Freddie Mac and a senior partner at PwC. The outgoing Chair, Professor Arnold Schilder, will extend his term through early 2019 until a new Chairperson is appointed.
WHEB Asset Management’s George Latham is one of 18 senior figures to become an ambassador of the UK B Corporation movement, which aims to drive a global push of people using business as a force for good. Prior to becoming Managing Partner at WHEB, Latham was Head of SRI Funds at Henderson Global Investors for 10 years.
Andrew Voysey is stepping down as head of the Sustainable Finance practice at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). He moves to take up a role as Head of Business at Soil Capital – a group of farm managers and finance professionals working to drive profitable global farming systems that regenerate soil health. He will continue his relationship with CISL as a Senior Associate.
Pascal Radue has been appointed President and CEO of GE Renewable Energy’s Hydro business, based in Paris. He joins from GE Power’s Steam business where he was leading both the Clean Combustion Product Line and the Asia Pacific Region.In the Universities Superannuation Scheme’s RI team, Daniel Summerfield has moved to a new role as Head of Corporate Affairs, making David Russell the sole Head of Responsible Investment. Helen Hopkins and Patrick O’Hara have both been promoted to Senior Analyst – responsible, respectively, for external manager relationships and internal public market integration and stewardship respectively. The team will also be recruiting additional corporate governance support.
Maria Lettini, Director of the $9.2trn investor network Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR) has been chosen to join the SASB Standards Advisory Group – the group of financial industry firms and experts addressing the needs for consistent, comparable and reliable disclosure of ESG information. Before joining FAIRR, Lettini was the PRI’s Associate Director, Head of Americas.
Lucia Silva, Generali’s Group Head of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, has been appointed Co-Chair of the Italian Observatory for Sustainable Finance (OIFS). Prior to joining Generali, Silva was a Corporate Sustainability Officer at KPMG.
Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley will succeed Bill McNabb as Chair at the $5.3trn passive investment giant, effective January 2019. He becomes the fourth chairman in the firm’s 43-year history. Buckley, who joined Vanguard in 1991 as assistant to then-CEO John Bogle, was himself named CEO in January, prior to that he was the firm’s Chief Investment Officer.
Paul Costello, the founding chief executive of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and of Australia’s giant Future Fund, has died of cancer, media reports have confirmed. Since 2014, Costello had been a member of Qantas Super’s trustee board as well as chair of the investment committee and a member of the remuneration and insurance committees. Qantas Super chair, Anne Ward, said: “Even in his last weeks, Paul remained focused on serving the members of Qantas Super. Paul was a pivotal figure in the super industry, and an enormous asset to the Qantas Super board.”
Brian Hayes, the Irish MEP who was rapporteur for the revised IORPs EU pension fund directive, has been named as the new CEO of Ireland’s Banking & Payments Federation Ireland.
Natixis is looking to hire a Green & Sustainable Finance Expert to contribute to reports, prepare commercial pitches, participate in the implementation of the Green Weighting Factor, and informing the development of green and sustainable investment solutions. The role is in the R&D arm of Natixis’ Green & Sustainable Hub – the Center for Expertise. Link
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