RI People & Appointments, September 10: Jean Boissinot quits French Government for Central Bank

Jean Boissinot, one of the architects of France’s seminal Article 173 climate finance law, has left the French government for a role within the Banque de France. Boissinot, who was Director of Financial Stability at the General Directorate of the Treasury at the Ministry of France is now a special advisor to the Governors of the Banque de France, with responsibility over financial stability issues including green finance. Banque de France is secretariat of the Central Bank and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System. Boissonot’s exit from the French government is the latest in a string of departures to be announced for sustainability experts in key roles in France. A few weeks ago, French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot resigned live on radio over frustration at the lack of meaningful progress being made on climate change; and on Friday RI, confirmed that respected sustainability leader Philippe Desfossés may be axed as CEO at 100% SRI investor ERAFP.
Norges Bank Investment Management has bolstered its Corporate Governance Board with three new appointments. Åse Aulie Michelet, Svein Rennemo and Harald Norvik will work as external members for the board, which acts as an advisory forum for the Chief Corporate Governance Officer on the fund’s corporate governance strategy, the exercise of ownership rights and principles and practices affecting listed companies in the equity portfolio. CCGO Carine Smith Ihenacho said Michelet, Rennemo and Norvik have “a valuable combination of board and management experience”.
Barclays has made moves to strengthen its green banking client offering with two new hires. Appointed to the newly created role of Global Head of Green Banking is Rhian-Mari Thomas, who will be charged with developing Barclays’ green strategy within banking globally, reporting to Head of Banking Reid Marsh. Thomas was Founder and Chair of the firm’s Green Banking Council, and will continue to represent Barclays on a number of external bodies, including the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.
UK public pension pool Border to Coast has appointed a former Saudi Aramco portfolio manager as its Chief Investment Officer. Daniel Booth moved from the controversial Saudi sovereign oil firm, where he was Head of Portfolio Management, to the £46bn pool making him its first permanent CIO.
Saskia Vossenberg has joined FMO as Senior Gender Finance Advisor, where she is spearheading the integration of a gender lens into the Dutch development bank’s investment process. Alongside her work at FMO, Vossenberg is a researcher affiliated with the Center for Frugal Innovation in Africa (CFIA) where she studies how financial innovations targeted at women entrepreneurs in emerging markets can help tackle gender inequalities.
Alix Chosson has left her role as Senior Sell-side Analyst of Green & Sustainable Research at Natixis to become a Responsible Investment Analyst at DNCA Finance – a Natixis affiliate. She has over eight years’ experience in the responsible investment field, having held analyst positions at the likes of AXA Investment Managers, Standard Life Investments, Generali and Amundi Asset Management.
SRI private equity specialist Sarona Asset Management has appointed Alice Catalano and Dirk de Vlaam as Senior Vice Presidents of Investor Relations in North America and Europe. Catalano, who will focus on North America, was previously Managing Director of Fundraising and Marketing for Prostar Capital. De Vlaam moves from impact-focused manager Triple Jump where he was Senior Officer Institutional Marketing and Sales, before which he served as Head of Sales and Marketing Netherlands at Franklin Templeton for several years.
Peter Bodin, Global CEO of professional services firm Grant Thornton International, has been appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of private sector-led SDG-oriented initiative IMPACT2030. Bodin succeeds Grady Lee, who will continue as Vice Chair.
Sara Kelly Anzinger is now Director of Sustainable Finance at Fitch Ratings, moving from her role as Director of Structured Finance-Commercial, Mortgage-Backed Securities. Before joining Fitch in 2017, Anzinger ran an independent consultancy dedicated to the integration of ESG in commercial real estate finance, prior to which she was Managing Director, ESG & Real Estate Debt and Fixed Income at green real estate body GRESB.The Long Term Infrastructure Investors Association (LTIIA) has appointed the World Bank’s François Bergère to take over from Eugene Zhuchenko as Executive Director. At the World Bank, Bergère was Programme Manager for the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility, before which he held senior roles with the French Ministry of Finance, Galaxy Fund, Asian Mezzanine Infrastructure Fund, and Caisse des Dépôts Group.
Gregory Elders has moved to JP Morgan Chase & Co to work in ESG Research, based in New York. He previously spent seven years at Bloomberg, becoming Bloomberg Intelligence ESG Senior Analyst.
BankTrack – the NGO focused on banks’ financing activities – is recruiting a Climate Campaigner to deliver a major new public pressure campaign to stop private sector finance for fossil fuels. The successful candidate will “forge new alliances as well as working together with existing allies to pressure private sector banks to commit to withdraw from fossil fuel finance”.
Douglas Cogan has joined smart beta specialist Aperio Group as an ESG/SRI Strategist. Formerly Vice President and Asset Owner Consultant of ESG Research at MSCI, Cogan most recently ran independent consultancy Cogan Climate Consulting, working with asset owners to engage firms and craft portfolio allocation strategies to promote a low-carbon transition.
OP Financial Group, Wealth Management has appointed Annika Manninen as ESG expert. Manninen was previously ESG Consultant at MSCI and, most recently, Management Consultant at consulting firm Accenture.
Bjarne Graven Larsen, former CIO at Denmark’s ATP and Canadian Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), has reportedly joined the board of Kirk Kapital – the €1.1bn investment firm of the descendants of LEGO founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen. Larsen left his roles as CIO and Executive Vice President of OTPP in June this year.
Danish corporate governance expert Charlotte Valeur has been appointed Chair of business group the Institute of Directors. She succeeds Barbara Judge, who left in March after it was alleged the group failed to fairly investigate allegations that Judge had bullied staff. Valeur, who has been described as a “champion” of board diversity and who has over 35 years experience in the finance industry, takes up the role alongside multiple other positions – as Non Executive Director at both Laing O’Rourke and Phoenix Spree Deutschland, and as Member of the London Stock Exchange’s Primary Markets Group.
Mining giant Rio Tinto is hiring a Senior Manager of Communities and Social Performances to develop its Australian social investment programmes. Based in Perth or Brisbane and reporting to the Chief Advisor of Brand, Communications and Communities, the successful candidate will be tasked with driving the development, maintenance and implementation of strategies for stakeholder engagement and “ensuring communities are positioned to harness the potential of investments”.
UK fund manager and social enterprise Social and Sustainable Capital has appointed Mark Bickford to head up its five-person investment team. Previously, as Head of Social Investment at The FSE Group, Bickford oversaw the firm’s Social Impact Accelerator Fund, providing expansion loans to social enterprises and charities.
Simon Osborne, the Chief Executive of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA)’s The Governance Institute, is to retire mid-2019 after seven years in the role. Before becoming Chief Executive in October 2011, Osborne made a career in the railway industry and then working as a consultant, helping to expand ICSA’s board evaluation practice. Osborne said: “This role has been an unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable career change for me, but I feel that the time has come for someone new to take the organisation forward.”