West Midlands, USS, International Centre for Pension Management, Railways Pension Trustee Company, Cardano, PwC, Pension Protection Fund, Church Commissioners, Manulife Asset Management, Aberdeen Asset Management, AMF, Be Frank, Delta Lloyd, Kring van Pensioenspecialisten, Aon Hewitt, Achmea, Managing Partners Group

West Midlands Pension Fund – The former deputy head of equities at the UK’s largest pension fund has joined the £11.5bn (€15.7bn) West Midlands to lead the local government scheme’s in-house investment team. Jason Fletcher joined West Midlands as assistant director of investments on 16 September. He joined from the Universities Superannuation Scheme, where he was head of North American equities and deputy head of equities until April.

International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM) – Three new members are joining the board of directors this September to fill the vacancies of Ole Beier Sørensen, Alexander Dyck and Rosemary Vilgan. The three appointees include Chris Hitchen, chief executive at Railways Pension Trustee Company and its operating subsidiaries, RPMI and Railpen Investments; Sarah Owen, general counsel and general manager of corporate strategy at the New Zealand Superannuation Fund; and Laurence Booth, CIT chair in structured finance at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Cardano – Eric Mathijssen, a senior manager at PwC’s risk team, has been appointed as client director as of 1 October. He has previously worked at Ortec Finance, Towers Watson and Mercer Investment Consulting. Mathijssen is also chairman of the asset-liability management committee at the Dutch Association of Investment Professionals (VBA).

Pension Protection Fund (PPF) – Leanne Clements has resigned from her position as responsible investment manager at the PPF to pursue other opportunities. Clements joined the UK lifeboat fund in April, having most recently been at West Midlands Pension Fund.

Church Commissioners – Sir Andreas Whittam Smith is to step down as chairman of the Assets Committee after 15 years’ service. The decision will take effect at the next AGM of the Church Commissioners, scheduled for June 2017. A successor is to be announced “in due course”.

Manulife Asset Management – The investment management arm of Manulife has appointed Neil Summers to the newly created role of head of EMEA client service and sales support. He joins from Aberdeen Asset Management, where he spent 12 years, most recently as head of client service for the EMEA.

AMF – Fredrik Ronvall, transaction and analysis manager at AMF Fastigheter, the real estate arm of the Swedish pension provider AMF, has been appointed manager and investment manager of unlisted real estate companies in Sweden and abroad at AMF’s asset management business, a role he will take on in addition to his current position.

Be Frank – Jan Hein Rhebergen is to start as commercial director at the Dutch pensions provider from 1 October. Rhebergen will make up the executive team together with Marianne de Boer-Maasland. He has been sales manager for pensions at insurer Delta Lloyd since 2012, having previously worked in commercial and management roles at ING and insurer Nationale Nederlanden.

Kring van Pensioenspecialisten (KPS) – The Dutch association of pension specialists has appointed Mark Verschuren to its board. He is to focus on fintech developments. Verschuren, an econometrist, is a consultant at Sprenkels & Verschuren.

Aon Hewitt – Frank Driessen, CCO for the Netherlands, has also been appointed as CCO for Germany, as part of a restructuring at the company. In the new set-up, Heleen Vaandrager, who has been sales director since 2014, is now also a member of the executive team of Aon Hewitt Netherlands. Xander ’s-Gravendijk has taken over the executive tasks of Judith van Ree, after the latter left the company. He has worked at Aon Hewitt for 16 years and currently serves as COO/CIO. Aon Hewitt said Pascal Hoogenboom would remain as chief executive, as well as a board member on United Pensions, Aon’s pan-European pensions fund.

Achmea – The insurance group has appointed Michel Lamie as a member of its executive board, as of 1 January 2017. He is to succeed Huub Arendse as CFO in April, when Arendse is to complete his four-year term. Achmea is parent company of Syntrus Achmea Pensioenbeheer.

Managing Partners Group – The asset management boutique has appointed Philip Eaton Richards as head of its capital markets team. Richards built and managed his own professional services business, which he founded in 1992, and has taken senior roles in entrepreneurial organisations since 2009.

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