RI People & Appointments, Oct. 28: Brinkman named Chief Financial & Risk Officer of PGGM

Willem Jan Brinkman has been named Chief Financial & Risk Officer (CFRO) of PGGM, the €238bn Dutch pension fund service provider. Brinkman, currently Principal Investment Manager at PGGM Private Equity, will also become vice chair of the Executive Board of PGGM. He will succeed Paul Boomkamp, who becomes a member of the Executive Board at Erasmus Medical Center. Brinkman joined PGGM Asset Management in 2015; this year he has been implementing a new private equity strategy which, besides providing financial returns, also focuses on generating specific sustainability solutions in the field of climate change, water scarcity, food security and healthcare.

John Belgrove, Senior Partner as pension consultants Aon Hewitt, has been appointed Chair of the Investment Leadership Group, a group of 12 UK-based pension funds, insurers and asset managers convened by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). He is to coordinate with senior management of member organisations on CISL’s research output. The group is embarking on a three-year phase which will focus on developing a body of best practice around climate scenario analysis and environmental issues such as water security and biodiversity loss. Roelie van Wijk-Russchen, Global head of Responsible Business & Public Affairs at Aegon Asset Management had led the group over the past two years.

Dan Shurey has joined Dutch banking group ING as Vice President, Sustainable Finance covering the Americas region. He will report to ING’s Head of Sustainable Finance, Anne van Riel. Shurey was previously with Bloomberg New Energy Foundation, and advised the European Commission’s Sustainable Action Plan Technical Expert Group (TEG) as a subject matter specialist.

Laura Hobbs, Deputy Head of Ethical & Responsible Investment at CCLA will be taking over stewardship responsibilities from Helen Wildsmith, Stewardship Director, Climate Change, regarding four of the five consumer companies CCLA focuses on as a participant to the Climate Action 100+ investor initiative.

Seema Hingorani has been named Managing Director at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and will oversee training and development programs for junior investing talent within the organisation. She will also be a Senior Relationship Manager for large, institutional clients. Hingorani is the founder of Girls Who Invest and SevenStep Capital, two organisations supporting women in the asset management industry, and was previously CIO at New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS).

Neville Vyas has been appointed by sustainable investing specialist Impax to oversee the daily operations of its London-based marketing team as Marketing Director. Vyas has held senior marketing roles at PwC, Allianz Global Investors, AXA Investment Managers and Fidelity Investments, and is an advisory board member at fund ratings provider Sharing Alpha.Thierry Philipponnat has been appointed as Head of Research and Advocacy at Finance Watch, the finance reform organisation he helmed between 2011 to 2014 as its first Secretary General. He currently chairs the new Climate and Sustainable Finance Commission at French securities regulator AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers) and is a Director of Institut Friedland, an economics think-tank. He is a former banker and has worked at Exane, UBS and BNP Paribas.

Vassos Vassou and Chris Roberts have been appointed to the board of Dalriada Trustees, a UK-based provider of professional trustee services which has just become a Service Provider signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Vassou was a consulting actuary at Capita Employee Benefits and Willis Towers Watson, while Roberts has experience in administration management at the Church of England and HSBC.

Fran Horowitz, Chief Executive of Abercrombie & Fitch, has been elected to the board of CEO-led social impact organisation Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP). The organisation, founded by actor Paul Newman in 1999, counts more than 200 companies among its membership representing $6.6trn in revenue.

Timo Pfeiffer has been named to the newly-created role of Chief Markets Officer (CMO) at Frankfurt-based index provider Solactive. He was formerly Solactive’s Head of Research and Business Development, and will now have oversight of client-facing activities, research function, and wider distribution and communications strategy in his expanded role.

Peter Munro has returned to the European Investment Bank (EIB) after completing a three-year secondment at the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) where he contributed to the Green Bond Principles among other priority areas. He was formerly Head of Investor Relations at the EIB and is now a Managerial Advisor according to LinkedIn. Munro will continue to work with ICMA in an advisory capacity.

Gareth Mostyn has been nominated to the role of Secretary and Chief Executive of the Church Commissioners for England (Church Commissioners), the £8.2bn (€8.8bn) investment arm of the Church of England. The appointment is subject to approval at an Extraordinary General Meeting due to be held in November. He will succeed Andrew Brown in the £180k (€208k) role.

Kila Englebrook will be stepping down as CEO of the Social Enterprise Alliance (SEA), a Nashville-based membership organisation supporting social entrepreneurship at the end of the month. Tamra Ryan, SEA Chair, will be “leading the charge” in the interim before a successor is appointed according to an email sent by the organisation.