Friday people roundup

SPF Beheer, PWRI, Eumedion, Shell, PFZW, European Commission, FCA, SPOA, PAOFarmacie, Zoetwaren, Deutsche AM, Invesco, Schroders, Finance Watch, Aegon, RobecoSAM, Vescore, Tikehau, BoAML, UK honours list

SPF Beheer – Pauline Frens will start as SPF Beheer’s operational director on 1 February. She is the fourth member of the Dutch railways pension fund provider’s executive team, sitting alongside chief executive Edwin Kreikamp, Martin Mos (director of finance and risk management) and Justus van Halewijn (director of asset management).

PWRI – Frans Prins has left his role as director of the €8bn Dutch pension fund. According to the scheme, Prins wished to change the balance between his job and private life and is now seeking positions as a trustee and internal supervisor. Annemarie Beun, a board adviser of PWRI, will act as director on a temporary basis.

Eumedion – Garmt Louw, chairman of the €26bn Dutch pension fund for Shell, has been appointed chair of Eumedion, the platform on corporate governance and sustainability for institutional investors. Louw succeeds Peter Borgdorff, director of the €185bn healthcare scheme PFZW, who has completed his statutory six-year term.

European Commission – Mette Toftdal Grolleman and Lee Foulger have left their positions within the office of the European Union’s commissioner for finance, Valdis Dombrovskis. The pair served under previous finance commissioner Lord Jonathan Hill. Grolleman is a former member of the Danish government’s permanent representation to the EU and is leaving to join communications firm Fleishman Hillard. Foulger was on the staff at the UK Treasury department until 2009 before joining the commission, and he is moving the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.

SPOA – The €1.5bn occupational pension fund for public pharmacists in the Netherlands has named Mariëtte van de Lustgraaf as its chair. She succeeds Mark Hagenzieker, who has stepped down after 15 years as chair and 21 years on the board. Van de Lustgraaf is chief executive of the Dutch Expertise Centre for Pharmacotherapy with Children and a board member of PAOFarmacie. Later this year, Marjolein Menheere, SPOA’s secretary, is to leave the pension fund after serving 11 years on its board.

Zoetwaren – Jan Groen has been named as the employers’ chairman of Zoetwaren, the €2.2bn Dutch pension fund for the confectionery sector. He succeeds Fabio Bambang Oetomo, who had been chair since last April, after taking over from Leo Dekker. Groen is financial manager at Hellema en Fortuin, a cake and candy producer.

Deutsche Asset Management – Petra Pflaum has been appointed to the newly created role of CIO for responsible investments. She will lead Deutsche AM’s dedicated environmental, social and governance team. She will also continue in her role as EMEA head of equities but share the position with Britta Weidenbach as co-head. Weidenbach is head of European equities. Pflaum is also to take a position on Deutsche AM’s board.

Invesco – The UK asset management giant has hired Gareth Isaac as EMEA CIO for Invesco Fixed Income, a newly created position. He joins from Schroders, where he was a portfolio manager in its bond team. Invesco said Isaac would lead “portfolio management and strategic investment thinking” for the group’s global macro team.

Finance Watch – Rainer Lenz has been named chairman of Finance Watch, a public interest body based in Brussels. He replaces Kurt Eliasson. Lenz is a professor of economics at Bielefeld Fachhochschule. Finance Watch was set up in 2011 to act as a counterweight to the industry group.

Aegon – Wim Hekstra has started as director of corporate markets at insurance company Aegon, a role that includes responsibility for the company’s pensions business. He succeeds Maarten Edixhoven, who is to become chief executive of Aegon. Edixhoven in turn succeeds Marco Keim, who will become responsible for all of Aegon’s operations in Continental Europe. Aegon has also appointed Anke Schlichting as chief technology officer of Aegon Netherlands as of 1 March. She is currently IT director at APG.

RobecoSAM – The specialist sustainable investment manager has hired Marius Dorfmeister as global head of clients and a member of the firm’s executive committee. He previously held similar roles at Vescore, another sustainable investment management specialist. He has also been in charge of institutional client relations at Notenstein Private Bank, Bank Sarasin & Cie and Falcon Private Bank, as well as holding senior positions at AIG in Austria and Merrill Lynch.

Tikehau Investment Management – Gen Oba has been hired as director of marketing and international development. He joins the French asset manager from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he spent 18 years, most recently as managing director of investment banking. At Tikehau, Oba will be responsible for “marketing strategy and the development of the firm’s relationship with large international clients”, the company said.

UK – Former UK pensions minister Steve Webb has been knighted in the country’s New Year’s Honours list. Webb was pensions minister from 2010 as part of the coalition government formed by his Liberal Democrat party and the Conservative party. He served for five years, making him the longest-serving pensions minister in recent history, before losing his seat in the 2015 election. He is now director of public policy for Royal London.

Two staff from the Pensions Regulator were awarded OBEs: Charles Counsell, executive director of automatic enrolment, was recognised for his services to workplace pension reform, while Andrew Young, an actuary at the regulator who has also worked for the Pension Protection Fund, was rewarded for “services to pension policy and pensioners”. Sheila Nicoll, former director of conduct policy at the Financial Services Authority, was awarded an OBE for her work in financial services, as well as the voluntary sector. Nicoll is now head of public policy at Schroders.