RI People & Appointments, Oct. 1: Pension chiefs join EDHEC-Risk Institute advisory board

The EDHEC-Risk Institute, the institutional investor-backed think tank, has named several senior pension executives to its international advisory board. They include: Joseph John Jelincic, Member of the Board of Administration and Chair of the Risk & Audit Committee at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS); Timo Löyttyniemi, Managing Director, the State Pension Fund (Finland); Olivier Rousseau, Executive Director, France’s Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites. The institute’s 42-member advisory board is chaired by Theo Jeurissen, the former Chairman of the Investors’ Committee of the Dutch Association of Pension Funds.

Ophir Gottlieb has joined governance research firm GMI Ratings as Director of Custom Research. Based in the firm’s Los Angeles office, he will work with CEO James Kaplan on proprietary models underlying the firm’s environmental, social, governance and accounting risk ratings. Gottlieb, who writes a blog on options trading, was head of client services at predecessor firm Audit Integrity from 2005 to 2007.

Bank of America Chairman Chad Holliday has been asked by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to chair the new Executive Committee of the year-old Sustainable Energy for All initiative. Ban and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim will co-chair a new advisory board. Kandeh Yumkella, Director-General of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) will be the Secretary General’s new Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All and “chief executive of the effort with full responsibility for overall planning and implementation”. Announcement

Shaun Kingsbury has been appointed chief executive of the UK’s new Green Investment Bank. He joins the UK GIB from private equity firm Hudson Clean Energy Partners where he was responsible for its European activities. Six new non-executive directors have also been appointed, including social responsible investment pioneer Tessa Tennant. Also named are Fred Maroudas, who chairs the UK Green Investments (UKGI) Investment Committee, Standard Life CEO David Nish, renewable fund firm HgCapital’s Tom Murley, Professor Julia King, Vice-Chancellor of Aston University, and former Deloitte partner Isobel Sharp. Announcement

Sean Flannery, the former US chief investment officer (CIO) at asset management giant State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), has joined the Advisory Panel of the Climate Bonds Initiative. Flannery left SSGA in 2007.Gavin Walker has been appointed Chair of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, the entity which manages the NZ$19bn (€12.2bn) New Zealand Superannuation Fund. He takes over from David May, who has chaired the Guardians since inception in 2002. Existing Guardians Board Member Catherine Savage has been appointed Deputy Chair. David Sara becomes General Manager Operations; Mark Fennell becomes General Manager Portfolio Completion. Neil Williams, formerly General Manager Asset Allocation, has been appointed Chief Investment Advisor and Head of Strategic Tilting.

David Richardson has been named as Head of Institutional Sales and Client Service for North America at environmental fund firm Impax Asset Management. He joins from Global Energy Investors, the renewables firm he co-founded in 2009. Impax, which has $2.9bn under management, also announced the opening of a sales office in New York.

Norges Bank Investment Management, the manager of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund, has awarded the first PhD scholarship to be granted by the Norwegian Finance Initiative (NFI). The scholarship went to Einar Kjenstad at the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester in New York for his research on corporate finance. The award is for NOK200,000 (€27,116) a year for a maximum of five years.

US sustainable funds firm Calvert Investments is seeking a Director of Relationship Management. The role is to lead the development and oversight of all home office and key account, key product and platform relationships for Calvert Distribution – Institutional and Wholesale.

The Global Impact Investing Network, the not-for-profit impact investment body, is looking to hire a Standards Manager to join its Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS) team. The closing date for the New York-based role is October 5.

The Sustainable Markets and Climate Change Groups at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) think tank are looking for a Climate Change Economist. The London-based role has a salary of up to £39,719; the closing date is October 26. Link