Candriam, ABN AMRO, SBAI, HSBC AM, Northern Trust, IA, Chronos, DNB, GSAM
Chronos Sustainability – David Russell, the former head of responsible investment at one of the UK’s largest pension schemes, has joined the sustainability consultancy as a sustainable investment specialist for Europe.
Russell left £77.9bn USS Investment Management in June 2023. He is the current chair of the Transition Pathway Initiative and a board member of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF).
“Investors across Europe are working to manage exactly the type of responsible investment function that David set up and delivered for one of the UK’s largest pension funds for over two decades,” said Rory Sullivan, CEO, Chronos Sustainability.
Northern Trust Asset Management (NTAM) – The global investment management firm with $1.2trn in assets under management has named Lyenda Simpson Delp as head of its global institutional client group, effective 3 December.
Delp will lead the strategic direction and commercial success of NTAM’s institutional businesses in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions. NTAM has more than $900bn of institutional AUM as of June 30, 2024, serving pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, nonprofits, family offices, corporations and consultants.
Delp will join NTAM’s leadership team and will report to NTAM president Daniel Gamba. She has more than 30 years of experience in asset management and the financial industry, having spent the last 15 years at BlackRock where she held several client-focused leadership roles and most recently was its head of financial institutions group for the Americas.
HSBC Asset Management – Pierin Menzli has been appointed as global chief investment officer, equity, to lead the firm’s active equity platform. Based in Switzerland, Menzil will report to Xavier Baraton, global CIO.
In his new role Menzil will be responsible for managing HSBC AM’s active equity platform, providing leadership, connectivity and oversight to a team of over 100 professionals who collectively manage close to $30bn of assets across a variety of strategies. Additionally, he will play a pivotal role in accelerating business growth for the platform specifically focused on emerging markets and Asia and thematic and other specialised strategies.
Prior to joining HSBC AM in 2022 as thematic equity CIO, Menzil was head of thematic equities at Bank J. Safra Sarasin, responsible for developing the firm’s thematic equity franchise with several global equity strategies in the fields of technology, health, consumer and environment.
Standards Board for Alternative Investments (SBAI) – Jane Buchan, chief executive officer of Martlet Asset Management and a current SBAI trustee, will succeed Mario Therrien as chair of the SBAI, who is stepping down on 31 January 2025 after four years leading the organisation. Buchan will assume her new responsibilities on 1 February 2025.
Therrien said: “When I took over the reins of the SBAI, we were all in the midst of a pandemic facing unprecedented times. With the support of our board and the team, the SBAI not only rose to those challenges but also made considerable progress, specifically in producing significant industry guidance in several areas, including, governance, digital assets, responsible investment, and culture and diversity, amongst other things.”
He added: “However, there is still a great deal to be done, and I am confident that under the leadership of Jane Buchan, the SBAI will reach new heights for the benefit of its stakeholders and the industry as a whole.”
Buchan co-founded and led Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company (PAAMCO), a fund of hedge funds focused on institutional investors for 18 years before joining Martlet. She has been an assistant professor of finance at the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
SBAI is an active alliance of over 150 alternative asset managers and over 100 institutional investors dedicated to advancing responsible practice, partnership, and knowledge.
Smart – The global savings and investments technology platform provider has hired Josef Pilger as senior adviser.
Pilger brings more than 30 years of experience in the global retirement and pensions industry, with his most recent role as EY’s global pension and retirement leader. During his tenure, he worked with governments and financial institutions across 30 countries, advising on pension reform and retirement system strategies.
Pilger is uniquely placed in his understanding of pensions reform, asset management, governance, transformational change and member engagement. His extensive experience in supporting informed decisions and policy reforms across multiple countries has involved close collaboration with political, policy, regulatory, and industry leaders.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) – Karin Merkus announced on LinkedIn that she resigned from GSAM, where she worked as lead portfolio manager in the fiduciary management team since January 2023, and will continue as an independent, as board member, chair of investment committees, advisor and interim/co-CIO for pension funds, “as I did before.”
Merkus has been appointed board member and chair of the investment committee of SPOA, the Dutch pension fund for pharmacists. Before joining GSAM in 2023, Merkus served as the CIO of the Rabobank pension fund and as a board member at metal industry scheme PMT.
Candriam – The multi-asset management firm has announced an upcoming leadership change within its global fixed income team, by appointing a new head of fixed income.
Nicolas Jullien, who has been with Candriam for 17 years and currently serves as head of high yield and credit arbitrage, will succeed Philippe Noyard, effective 1 January 2025, ahead of Noyard’s planned retirement in Q1 2025.
Julien’s career at Candriam has been marked by his longstanding collaboration with both Noyard and Nicolas Forest, CIO, beginning when he joined the company in 2007. “This close partnership, spanning 17 years, and Julien’s ongoing involvement in advancing our fixed income platform, make his appointment as Philippe’s successor a natural and well-deserved promotion,” the firm stated.
In this expanded role, whilst continuing to lead the high yield and credit arbitrage team, Julien will lead Candriam’s seasoned fixed income leadership team, collectively managing €32bn in assets, with 41 investment professionals covering notably global bonds, money market, investment grade, high yield, emerging market debt and convertibles.
De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) – Jochem Dijckmeester, the president of multi-sector scheme PGB, will become the new director of pension supervision of the Dutch pension regulator DNB.
Dijckmeester, who is also a trustee at the painters’ scheme Schilders, had been reappointed for a third term as PGB president in December last year. His new role at DNB presents “a unique chance to contribute to the pension sector in a time of great change,” Dijckmeester said, referring to the ongoing transition of the Dutch pension sector to a defined contribution system.
Before joining the PGB board in 2016, Dijckmeester worked for the pension fund of national employment agency UWV and for the Hogeschool Windesheim, an institute for higher education, where he worked as a lecturer in the field of applied gerontology.
Investment Association (IA) – Four new directors have been appointed to the Investment Association’s board of directors following its annual general meeting (AGM) this week. The board of directors oversees the IA’s activity and is made up of senior leaders from across the industry.
Joining the board are Paul Geddes, group CEO of Evelyn Partners; Hans Georgeson, CEO of Royal London Asset Management; Matthew Malloy, head of institutional client group and CEO of Neuberger Berman Europe; and Sarah Melvin, head of UK and Europe and chair of Africa at BlackRock.
The four new directors replace Stephen Bird (abrdn), Sean Hagerty (Vanguard), Peter Harrison (Schroders) and Michelle Scrimgeour (Legal & General Investment Management).
ABN AMRO Investment Solutions – Laurianne Melec has been appointed as the firm’s new chief operating officer. She will be a member of the executive committee and will focus on upholding operational continuity, driving further innovation, and ensuring that ABN AMRO Investment Solutions keeps delivering high-quality service to its stakeholders.
Melec has more than a decade of experience within the firm and has built a solid track record of operational excellence and leadership across a range of functions directly related to the COO role.She has held several key positions since she joined in 2013, and was appointed head of organisation and innovation in September 2023. In this role, she was instrumental in automating processes, supporting the company’s growth, and driving innovation management.
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