GLOBAL - Samco, the asset manager of pension funds for energy giant Shell, has appointed Piet Roelandt as chief investment officer.

The asset management operation has announced Roelandt (pictured, right), 43, will succeed Sijb Bartlema when he retires on 1 October.

Samco’s new CIO has been chief investment officer at Theodoor Gilissen, a private wealth bank, for 18 months but he is better known for his previous experience in pensions.

In April 2008, Roelandt left the €75bn healthcare pension fund PGGM - since then renamed as PfZW - where he had worked for eight years in various positions, the last two years of which were spent as CIO.

Shell Asset Management Company manages the worldwide pension assets of the energy firm, including the €10bn Shell Pensioenfonds in the Netherlands.

The Dutch pension fund lost 43.3% on investments in 2008, through a combination of negative returns on its 70% equity allocation and its relatively large allocation to fixed income investments in emerging markets and corporate bonds, said the scheme.

The cover ratio of the Shell Pensioenfonds plummeted from 180% to 80% last year, and Shell earlier this year announced it expected to have to inject approximately $5-6bn into its global pension plans this year alone, though more would be needed over the coming years. (See earlier IPE story: Shell warns of need to plug €6.3bn deficit)

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