Friday people roundup

GLOBAL – Sampension, LPFA, NAEV, Zurich, Aberdeen, Artemis, Barnett Waddingham, Mandarine Gestion

Sampension – Former director of the Danish central bank Torben Nielsen has been chosen as a new member of Sampension KP Livsforsikring’s trustee board. He will replace Bodil Nyboe Andersen – another former director of the country’s central bank. Sampension said Nielsen’s appointment fulfilled the requirement from the Danish FSA that pension funds had at least one trustee with special qualifications to undertake the role of chairman of the audit committee.

London Pensions Fund Authority – Sir Merrick Cockell has been promoted to deputy chairman of the pension fund’s board, while Dermot McMullan, Abdallah Nauphal and Kerry Adby have joined the board as non-executive directors. Cockell was until recently leader of the London Borough of Kensington, and Chelsea remains chairman of the Local Government Association. McMullan was recently named director of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch UK pension plan, and chairman of the Bank of America UK scheme in 2007. Nauphal is currently chief executive at Insight Investment, while Adby is currently chairman of Australia’s Copernican Securities.

Nordrheinische Ärzteversorgung – Dirk Lepelmeier, managing director at the pension fund for doctors in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia, has departed, according to reports in the local press. Asked whether Lepelmeier was still employed by the NAEV, the pension fund said he was currently “tied up in business matters” and that it had no further comment. After completing his studies, Lepelmeier spent two decades at the Dresdner Bank Group. He has been a part-time lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück since joining NAEV.

Zurich – Paul Trickett, former head of multi-asset class and fiduciary management at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, has been named trustee chairman of the Zurich Financial Services UK pension scheme. He joined GSAM in October 2010 from Towers Watson, where he spent 12 years. He is also a former chief executive of the British Coal Pension Scheme.

Aberdeen Asset Management – Alek Misev has been named portfolio manager. Based in Amsterdam, he will work within the firm’s property multi-manager team. He joins from Towers Watson, where he was head of Australian real estate and infrastructure, and has in the past worked for the Netherlands APG, overseeing its Australian and European unlisted real estate portfolio.

Artemis Investment Management – Paul Casson joins to help manage the company’s UK growth fund. Casson began his career in 1997 at Martin Currie and has since worked for SVM and Henderson.

Barnett Waddingham – Simon Taylor joins the corporate consulting practice from JLT Consulting after four years at the firm. He previously worked at HSBC’s actuarial business and has spent time at Hewitt Associates.

Mandarine Gestion – Françoise Rochette and Ludovic Dufour join from Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management to oversee the company’s Mandarine Reflux fund. Rochette was head of asset allocation at Edmond de Rothschild, while Dufour was a member of her team, responsible for global asset allocation.