AZL, Mercer Switzerland, Principal Global Investors, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, Man Group, Financial Reporting Council

AZL – Pensions provider AZL has appointed Peter van der Steur as manager of its Integral Board Support business unit. Previously, he was head of client and board relations at provider A&O Services. Van der Steur is a certified pensions lawyer and has a background in marketing and pension fund governance. Separately, Elke Op het Veld has started as manager of AZL’s actuarial business unit. She has been working as a senior actuary at AZL since 2009, when she left pensions adviser Towers Watson, where she had been actuary and senior consultant. She succeeds Audrey Ringens, who had been appointed corporate actuary at chemical and pharmaceutical firm DSM.

Mercer – Catherine Schoendorff has been named country leader of the consultancy’s Swiss business. She joined Mercer in 2011 after a decade at Hewitt and headed up its German, Austrian and Swiss administration division. At Hewitt, she was leader of its pension administration business in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland.

Principal Global Investors – Andrea Muller has been appointed executive director-head of international distribution, which was previously held by Kirk West. West moves into the newly created role of executive director-head of international, assuming responsibility for all the international offices of Principal Global Investors outside the US, and chief executive of Asia. Muller will assume responsibility for all sales, relationship management and client service activities in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management ­– Mihir Meswani and Nicolas Laporte have joined as portfolio managers to strengthen the firm’s hedge fund advisory business. Meswani joins from Mount Yale Capital Group, where he was a consultant, while Laporte was most recently a senior portfolio manager of alternative investments for the British Airways Pension Fund.

Man Group – John Cryan has been appointed to the board as a non-executive director. He held a number of senior roles at UBS over a career spanning more than 25 years, including CFO between 2008 and 2011. He was also chairman and chief executive at UBS AG EMEA between 2010 and 2011 and served as chief executive at UBS Limited.

Financial Reporting Council – Jim Sutcliffe is to stand down from the board, as well as the chairmanship of the Codes & Standards Committee of the FRC with immediate effect. Nick Land, a member of the board, has replaced him on the committee.

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