RI People & Appointments, Oct. 6: Ethos names successor to CEO Biedermann

Vincent Kaufmann will take over from Dominique Biedermann as the new CEO of Ethos, the governance advisory firm that’s owned by Swiss pension funds. Biedermann will become chairman, replacing Kaspar Müller, the economist who also chairs responsAbility Investments. Kaufmann, the current Deputy CEO who joined Ethos in 2004 as corporate governance analyst, takes over as CEO after the next general meeting of Ethos on June 4 next year. Announcement

Karl Sternberg, the former Chief Investment Officer at Deutsche Asset Management and co-founder (with a group of Oxford colleges) of fund firm Oxford Investment Partners that was acquired by Towers Watson in 2012, has been made a non-executive director at Railpen Investments. He joins as Railpen – which runs assets for the UK’s railway pension schemes – is overhauling its “philosophy, governance and operations” in a process called the ‘Investment Transformation Programme’. Chairman Paul Trickett said: “We aim to be a world-class, long-term investor and Karl’s great experience in both executive and non-executive roles will be a fantastic resource for us.”

Theresa Taylor and Priya Mathur have been named as the preliminary winners to fill the state and public agency member seats on the Board of Administration for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). Both Taylor and Mathur will serve four-year terms that begin on January 16, 2015. Mathur, who sits on the Advisory Council of the Principles for Responsible Investment, was first elected to the CalPERS Board in 2003.

Susanne Gløersen is now an ESG Analyst at Nordea Asset Management, the Nordic fund manager, where she covers the energy, utilities and mining sector, among other supporting portfolio managers with ESG-analysis. She was formerly a graduate in Nordea’s Wealth Management Programme.

There’s been a reshuffle at Första AP-fonden (AP1), the Swedish state buffer fund. Richard Kjörling will head a new external management unit. Martin Kallstrom will become head of the new Alternative Investments unit. Olof Jonasson has been appointed Head of Equities, taking over from Per Lundborg, who is leaving the fund after 12 years in the role. Link (Swedish)

Björn Ordell has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer at the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), and will take up his appointment in April 2015 at the latest. Swedish national Ordell, CFO at Landshypotek Bank in Stockholm since 2007, succeeds Juha Kotajoki, who resigned in March. NIB has become increasingly involved in environmental investment, such as via a $500m green bond last month. Announcement

John Baines has joined the board of the UK’s Co-operative Bank as Finance Director. He joined in 2013 as Chief Financial Officer; before that he was CFO at Aldermore Bank. He is a former CEO of RBS’s wealth management division. Announcement*Karlijn van Lierop has been appointed as Director of Responsible* Investment & Governance at MN, the €92bn Dutch pension fund manager, taking over from Kris Douma whose departure was announced last month. Van Lierop was previously senior advisor for Responsible Investment at MN, working on the integration of social, environmental and governance issues; she has also been responsible for leading MN’s Engagement Program. She is a member of the PRI Steering Committees on water and sustainable palm oil. She is the founder and chair of the Dutch Task Force on Sustainable Palm Oil, which is linked to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). MN said a new candidate would be hired to replace her as senior advisor.

Anders Svennesen has been named as CIO at Danica Pension, the Danske Bank-owned pension provider, according to a report in IPe.com. Svennesen, who joins from Danish labour market pensions giant ATP where he is co-CIO, will replace Peter Lindegaard, who left in August.

Andrew Siwo has joined the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), the US-based industry group, as manager of its ImpactBase online impact investment platform. Prior to this, he spent five years at JP Morgan, most recently in the Global Special Opportunities Group. GIIN is also hiring two regional liaisons, for South Asia and the UK.

Annemarie Arens has been named as General Manager of LuxFLAG, the Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency. She is a former head of Sales and Member of the Management Committee at RBC Investor Services Bank.

Hyewon Kong has joined AGF Investments, the asset manager with $33.9bn under management, as an Associate Portfolio Manager, working with Martin Grosskopf, Portfolio Manager and Director, Sustainable Investing, on researching environmental thematic opportunities and managing the Global Sustainable Growth strategy. She was previously a Senior Analyst with WHEB Asset Management in the UK. Prior to that, she was an Associate Fund Manager with Henderson Global Investors.

Myron Steele has taken over as the new chair of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, replacing William Chandler, who has decided to step down. Steele is a Partner at Potter Anderson & Corroon LP and is the former Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. Announcement

Yuval Wasserman has been named as the new CEO of Advanced Energy Industries, the Nasdaq-listed solar technology company, in addition to his role as president. Wasserman, who will join the board, succeeds Garry Rogerson who has been CEO since August 2011. Announcement