RI People & Appointments, Nov. 3: Hermes names Kamhi to added role of Head of Responsibility

Leon Kamhi, Head of Engagement at Hermes Equity Ownership Services, has been given the additional post of Head of Responsibility at Hermes Investment Management, the asset manager owned by the £40bn (€51bn) BT pension scheme. Chris Taylor, Chief Executive of Hermes Real Estate has been appointed to the additional post of Head of Private Markets. Andrew Parry becomes Head of Equities in addition to Head of European Equities. Zoë Shaw – the former CEO at New Bond Street Asset Management – joins as Head of Fixed Income from bond manager Promethion Ltd., where she was Managing Director. Link

Eric Sarasin has resigned with immediate effect as Deputy Chief Executive of Swiss private bank J. Safra Sarasin. The surprise move comes just days after Carsten Maschmeyer, the millionaire founder of financial adviser AWD, sued Eric Sarasin for damages stemming from a failed investment. That lawsuit alleges that Sarasin personally assured Maschmeyer that the investment was safe when in fact the German millionaire ultimately lost €20m on it. In a statement, Sarasin said he was stepping down to concentrate on fighting the case to shield the Basle-based bank.

Ian Jones has joined the leadership team at UK investor advisory group PIRC, according to a report in the Financial Times. It said Jones was previously head of ESG at Cooperative Asset Management.

Jesper Nymark, the former CEO and Executive Editor at the English-language Copenhagen Post, has been named as the new Director of DanWatch, the Danish corporate ethics watchdog.

Jeff Dorety has been named as president of Trina Solar’s Americas Region arm, taking over from Mark Mendenhall who has left the China-based, Nasdaq-listed solar photovoltaic firm. Dorety, most recently vice president of sales for JA Solar USA, was formerly global director of sales for BP Solar. Longxing Huang, previously VP at ShunFeng Photovoltaic International, replaces Haiyan Sun as president of the firm’s Distributed PV Generation Business Unit.

Stacey Cunningham has been appointed President of NYSE Governance Services, the New York Stock Exchange division which provides corporate governance, risk, ethics and compliance services for public and privately held companies. She reports to NYSE President Thomas Farley and was most recently Head of Sales & Relationship Management for NYSE Group. Announcement

Rakesh Rewari, a former advisor to the Indian government who sits on the board of India’s National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), has been appointed to the board of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), the US-based industry body.Paul Abberley, the former interim Chief Executive at Aviva Investors who sits on the Advisory Council of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), has been named as the new CEO of London-listed broking and investments firm Charles Stanley Group. Abberley, who takes over from Sir David Howard, joined Charles Stanley in June as Chief Investment Officer-designate. Announcement

Christine Lebreton has left her role as head of European RI Equities & Impact Investing at Mirova, the RI subsidiary of Natixis Global Asset Management, to join La Banque Postal Asset Management (LBPAM) as a portfolio manager assigned to three funds, the LBPAM Actions Sante, LBPAM Responsable Actions Euro and LBPAM Responsable Actions Europe funds. Lebreton had been with Mirova for just over two and a half years and was previously a European ESG Equities Portfolio Manager at Natixis Asset Management for more than four and a half years.

Motoko Aizawa is joining the Climate Bond Initiative, the green bonds advocacy group, as Senior Fellow to advise on the development of the Climate Bond Standards scheme. She is the former Head of the Policy and Standards Unit in the Environment and Social Development Department of the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC). Link

Michael Schmidt, Head of Equities at Union Investment and a key figure in the German asset manager’s sustainable investment strategy, is leaving the firm at the end of the year. In a statement, Union said Schmidt had informed it that after 22 years in the financial industry, he wanted to take a break to spend more time with his family and to focus on some private projects. Union added that until a replacement was found, Björn Jescher, Head of Portfolio Management, would assume Schmidt’s responsibilities. “We regret Michael Schmidt’s decision but very much respect it,” said Hans Joachim Reinke, Chief Executive at Union. As of June 30, Union’s sustainably managed funds held €7.2bn in assets.

Frank Lopez, Head of Portfolio Administration and Operations at Quotient Investors, the New York-based quant ESG firm that is backed by CalPERS, has assumed the additional role of Chief Compliance Officer. He will be supported by Mission Critical Services, a consulting firm specializing in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) compliance, and Ashland Partners, a consulting firm specializing in GIPS verification.

Angela Harrell has been named Head of the Voya Foundation, the charitable arm of New York-listed Voya Financial, the former ING US. Harrell, most recently in a communications role with Coca-Cola, will also lead Voya’s Office of Corporate Responsibility. Announcement