RI People & Appointments, Oct. 14: Global Reporting Initiative names ex-ICGN head Wood as chair

Former International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) Chair Christianna Wood has been appointed Chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative, the organisation which sets standards for sustainability reporting. Wood, who also sits on the board of the International Integrated Reporting Council and is a former global equity portfolio manager at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), takes over at the GRI from Herman Mulder.
The GRI has also appointed six members to its Board of Directors: Eric Hespenheide (former senior partner at Deloitte & Touche); Pavan Sukhdev (founder/CEO of GIST Advisory); Roberto de Ocampo (founding partner of Centennial Group International); Manfred Warda (former General Secretary of the ICEM union body); Roberto Waack (reappointed).
New York City Comptroller John Liu has named Seema Hingorani as Interim Chief Investment Officer of the $145bn New York City Pension Funds, following the announcement that Deputy Comptroller for Pensions and the funds’ Chief Investment Officer Lawrence Schloss is leaving to become president of private investment firm Angelo, Gordon & Co. Hingorani has overseen the funds’ $80bn public equities assets since April 2010. Announcement

Roy Gillson, the first chairman of Universities Superannuation Scheme Investment Management Limited (USSIM) has died, aged 60, of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to a statement from USS, the UK academic sector pension provider. Gillson, a former chief investment officer at AXA Investment Managers, joined USS as a special member of the investment committee in September 2009 with his role expanding to include membership of the investment sub-committee in 2011. Over the next few years, he played a significant part in establishing a new, wholly owned, investment subsidiary company called USS Investment Management Limited (USSIM). Prior to his role at USS, Gillson was Chief Executive of Aerion Fund Management, the in-house investment fund for the National Grid UK Pension Scheme.

Alex Jovanovic has joined Trillium Asset Management, the US-based sustainable fund firm, as an Investment Manager. Trillium said Jovanovic spent the past decade with Boston Common Asset Management where he was most recently responsible for coordinating the firm’s business development efforts and managing client relationships.Leslie Samuelrich has been named president of US sustainable fund group Green Century Capital Management, which runs the environmentally responsible Green Century Funds family. Samuelrich, who joined the firm in 2012 and was most recently Senior Vice President, take over from immediate past President Wendy Wendlandt. Link

Douglas Park has been named as Director of Education, a new role, at the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), the body which is promoting sustainable disclosure at US listed firms. Park has a PhD in Business from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a JD from University of Michigan Law School, SASB said.

Australian superannuation fund Local Government Super (LGS) has appointed James Montague to its board, replacing John Beacroft who is stepping down after five years as a director and a former chair. LGS has assets of A$7bn (€4.9bn), of which A$3.7bn are invested in responsible investment strategies.

Adrian Orr, Chief Executive of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, which manages the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, has been elected Deputy Chair of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF), a voluntary group of currently 25 sovereign wealth funds located globally. The appointment is for a two-year term, after which Orr will take on the Chairmanship of the IFSWF for a further two years.

Chris Holmes has joined the UK’s Green Investment Bank as its new Managing Director for Waste and Bio-energy. He joins from Dutch bank NIBC where he led the Capital Markets division of the Infrastructure and Renewables business and managed their UK origination and advisory practice.

Erin Mulligan Nelson has been named chief marketing officer (CMO) of Nasdaq-listed solar technology firm SunPower Corp. She is a former CMO at computer firm Dell and will be based in SunPower’s Austin, Texas office.

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), the coalition of nearly 300 faith-based institutional investors representing over $100bn in assets, is seeking a Program Director. The role, reporting to the Executive Director or Deputy Director, is responsible for strategic development and planning; tactical coordination and evaluation of a broad range of investor actions intended to influence corporate behavior on ICCR’s priority issues.