J.P. Morgan Asset Management says it has brought together its environmental, social and governance (ESG) expertise into a new Sustainable Investment Leadership Team (SILT) headed by Jamie Kramer, Head of Strategic Product Management & ESG Lead for Global Investment Management. The firm said “the SILT initiative” brings together “senior leaders, portfolio managers and client advisers” to drive a globally coordinated strategy for sustainable investing to help clients achieve their ESG investment objectives. “SILT sits at the heart of our organization and taps into decades of ESG expertise across investment teams, governance specialists and clients facing advisors,” said Kramer. And it added it has launched a UCITS fund in its Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV range, JPMorgan Funds – Europe Sustainable Equity Fund. It’s benchmarked to the MSCI Europe Index and managed by portfolio managers Richard Webb, Joanna Crompton and William Johnson.
Leo George has been promoted to Head of Sustainable Ownership at UK £25bn (€28.8bn) railways pension fund RPMI Railpen. George, an Investment Manager at the fund for eight years, replaces Deborah Gilshan who will leave for Standard Life Investments at the end of March. Railpen will also be recruiting a senior governance professional to join its Sustainable Ownership team and work alongside Jamie Rosser, Investment Analyst.
Ian Silk, Chief Executive of AustralianSuper, and Candy Broad, Australian politician and board member at Australian super-fund, First Super, have joined the board of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), the association of 29 Australian superannuation funds and international asset owners.
Rebecca Blalock, former Chief Information Officer at US utility giant, Southern Company, has been named as Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital’s new Deputy Chief Financial Officer and new Chief Accounting Officer. Blalock, who is also a Managing Partner at US based energy advisors, Advisory Capital LLC, will also serve on the board of the sustainable infrastructure investment firm.
Camilla de Ste Croix, former European Policy Officer at UK campaign group ShareAction, has joined the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). She will assist the IIRC’s CEO, Richard Howitt – who she also previously served as a Parliamentary Assistant when he was MEP for East of England – to catalyse the adoption of integrated reporting globally. Eleni Choidas took over from her at Shareaction.
James Holley, Head of Responsible Investment for the UK at KPMG, will reportedly join London-based private equity firm Bridgepoint. Holley is reported to be the first person to be employed by the company solely dedicated to ESG issues. Holley will start his role in April.
Tessa Thomson, Head of Distribution Operations at UK-based investment firm, Invesco Perpetual, has joined Neil Woodford’s Woodford Investment Management as Head of Third Party Relationships.
Christian Murach has retired from the Management Board of KfW IPEX-Bank after over 30 years with the German banking group. He’s succeeded by Andreas Ufer, formerly the bank’s Chief Risk Officer, who will now be responsible for the area of ‘Markets II and Treasury’ at Management Board level. KfW IPEX-Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of German development bank KfW. Announcement*The 300 Club, a global independent* group of leading investment professionals, has announced the establishment of a North American chapter to be led by Chris Ailman, Chief Investment Officer of US pension fund CalSTRS. The club also announced the addition of three new members: Ted Eliopoulos, Chief Investment Officer at CalPERS; Sam Masoudi, Chief Investment Officer of the Wyoming Retirement System (WRS); and Russell Read, Chief Investment Officer of the Alaska Permanent Fund.
Gerbrand Haverkamp, Program Director at the Index Initiative in Amsterdam, has become a board member of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB).
Serge Ledermann, the former Head of Asset Management at J. Safra Sarasin, has joined the board of Geneva-based asset management company QUAERO Capital. He is also an ex-Deputy CEO and Head of Investment of Retraites Populaires in Lausanne. Prior to that, he was Partner at Lombard Odier and Union Bancaire Privée Gestion Institutionnelle.
Jane Wilkinson, a Partner at KPMG Luxembourg who heads its corporate sustainability team there will take ‘some time off’ from her role at the audit, tax and advisory firm, RI has learned. Her temporary replacement has not been named. Wilkinson has been with KPMG Luxembourg for over 20 years.
Giulio Terzariol, Head of Group Planning and Controlling at Allianz SE, and Niran Peiris, Chief Executive Officer at Allianz Australia, will replace Dieter Wemmer and Werner Zedelius on the Allianz SE Supervisory Board as of January 2018. Sophie Boissard, CEO of the French Korian Group, Michael Diekmann, former CEO of Allianz and ex-adidas CEO Herbert Hainer will be put forward for election onto the company’s Supervisory Board. Link
Scott Brown will reportedly step down as CEO at VisionFund International – the UK based microfinance arm of World Vision. Brown will leave at the end of March after 10 years with the firm which last year lent $729m to an estimated 1.2m people. Brown’s replacement has not been named.
BlackRock, the giant US asset management firm with $5.1trn in assets under management, is recruiting for a Director – Investment Stewardship to join its New York Investment Stewardship Team.
Big Society Capital, the UK independent social investment institution, is recruiting for an Investment Associate and an Investment Director to join its team in London.
ClearlySo, the European impact investor, is seeking a Head of Investment Banking to join its London office and manage its investment banking division.
The Foundation for the Global Compact, the UN corporate sustainability body, is recruiting a Head of Communications to join its New York office and lead its communications and media strategy.
Standard Life Investments, the Edinburgh-based asset manager with £253.2bn under management, is hiring a Governance & Stewardship Research Manager to join its team in Scotland.
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