DWS, TNFD, ESMA, First Sentier, SSGA, AP3, Unigestion, MN, VEDRA Pensions, Laborfonds
MN – The Dutch fiduciary manager has reshuffled its board following the acquisition of its pension administration unit by PGGM, which will become effective from 1 July. The firm’s chief executive officer, Frits van Bruggen, pensions director Ralf Rikze, and IT director Toine Straathof will all leave the MN as their functions will become obsolete.
MN emphasised that the departure of van Bruggen, who still had a running contract, is voluntary. “Van Bruggen took this job [in 2022] when he was already almost retiring. His big wish was to be the director of a pension administrator,” an MN spokesperson said.
The firm, which will continue as a fiduciary manager for the Dutch pension funds PMT, PME, MITT, Cargill Essity and Forbo, will now be led by two co-presidents — Fleur Rieter and Martijn Scholten — who are already part of the firm’s board.
The board of directors will also have two directors of fiduciary management and a director of operations. Two of the three remaining positions have already been filled by internal recruits, while MN is still on the lookout for a second director of fiduciary management.
AP3 – Per Lindqvist has been appointed by the Swedish government as a new board member of the Stockholm-based national pensions buffer fund. His term began in May.
Lindqvist is currently head of group treasury at Swedish steel firm Alleima, and a board member of Alleima Pensionsstiftelse (Alleima pension foundation). His previous roles include that of deputy head of Danske Markets Sweden, and head of the treasury centre of state-owned Swedish mining company LKAB.
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) – The Authority has appointed Thomas Richter, CEO of the German Investment Funds Association (BVI), to its Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG).
The four-year term in this high-level advisory committee begins on 1 July 2024. The SMSG is composed of 30 members representing the financial industry, companies, investor protection groups, and consumers and academics. The committee provides the ESMA with advice and must be consulted on technical standards, guidelines, and recommendations. Additionally, it can flag inconsistent applications of European Union law and inconsistent supervisory practices in member states.
Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) – Razan Al Mubarak, president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has joined TNFD as its new co-chair alongside David Craig.
The TNFD co-chairs lead the 40-member Taskforce which released its corporate reporting recommendations in September 2023. The TNFD is now focused on the incorporation of its recommendations into corporate reporting standards and a range of capability building initiatives to help market participants take concrete action to identify, assess and manage their nature-related issues.
Al Mubarak replaces Elizabeth Maruma Mrema who stepped down from her role in March given the growing demands of her responsibilities as deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
DWS – Ulrich von Creytz has been appointed to the position of DWS’s chief investment officer real estate for Europe.
Based in Frankfurt, von Creytz will report to Clemens Schaefer, global head of real estate, APAC and Europe. In his new role, he will leverage his extensive experience in client relations and his deep knowledge of European real estate built over a 20-year period to enhance the client and capital focus of the platform’s investment process.
Von Creytz joined DWS in 2004 and has held several leadership positions within its real estate business. Most recently, he was head of the real estate specialists in EMEA overseeing teams in Frankfurt and London.
He has played a critical role in growing client relationships, demonstrating an ability to align investment themes and product offering with the strategic investment objectives of clients.
He will join DWS’s Europe investment committee and will maintain his two board positions in Germany.
Unigestion – The firm has appointed Jean-Pierre Mustier and Bernard Gault as non-executive directors. Both have multi-decade careers in the financial industry and private equity.
Mustier, who has close to 40 years of experience in investment banking and private equity, is chair of German commercial real estate bank Aareal Bank and French technology company Atos.
Gault is the founding partner of investment company Barville & Co, a director of OVH Cloud, and chair of the Centrale-Supélec Foundation.
In addition to the two appointments, Unigestion Holding’s board now comprises Bernard Sabrier (chair); Patrick Fenal (deputy chair); Alain Robert (former executive vice chair of UBS Global Wealth Management); Beatrice Weder di Mauro (professor of international economics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, and president of CEPR).
State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) – The asset management business of State Street Corporation has selected James Ferrarelli to the position of executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Reporting to SSGA CEO Yie-Hsin Hung, Ferrarelli will be responsible for delivering technology, systems and operational infrastructure that will support the business across all asset classes, client segments and geographies.
Ferrarelli will join from Charles Schwab where he served as the chief information officer of their wealth and asset management divisions. In that role, he was responsible for technology strategy, application design and development, third-party product integration and production management of the technology platforms supporting the business enterprises within the corporation.
3173 Limited – A UK pension governance, advisory, investment and technology group which includes the Dalriada Trustees, Spence & Partners, and Mantle businesses, has named corporate solicitor Fiona McGowan as general counsel.
In this role, McGowan will be responsible for working as part of the senior executive team and with the group board on effective risk management, with oversight of risk controls and compliance. She will also work with senior executives on calibrating 3173’s response to the complex and changing legal and regulatory landscape and support the high standards of governance and decision-making across all group companies and operations.
McGowan brings more than 30 years of experience as a solicitor, most recently serving as head of legal for Abrdn. She was head of legal for Standard Life Investments and supported its merger with Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017.
First Sentier Investors – Adele Swan has been named as the firm’s new chief people and culture officer. She is based in Edinburgh, reporting to CEO Mark Steinberg.
Swan has three decades of experience across all aspects of people and culture within the financial services sector globally, including with Standard Life Aberdeen (now Abrdn), HSBC and Tesco Bank. She has extensive experience in organisational design and development strategies, change management and HR operational delivery, which coupled with a sound understanding of First Sentier Investors and its culture, are all critical elements of the chief people and culture role.
Swan takes over from Melanie King, who was in the role for three years. In addition to being acting chief people and culture officer, Swan was also global head of talent, leadership and DE&I at First Sentier Investors for the last two years.
VEDRA Pensions – The German pension buyout firm has appointed Olaf John as senior advisor of its management board and advisory council, effective 1 July.
John takes over the role of senior advisor in addition to his work at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). LGIM appointed John as European client solutions director in May. He is an expert in asset management and company pension schemes.
Most recently, he served as head of the German branch of Mercer Global Investments Europe. He is a member of various committees, including the investment and regulation committee of the working group for the German occupational pension association aba.
Laborfonds – The Italian pension fund for the employees in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region has appointed Lorenzo Bertoli as the new president and Alfred Ebner as the new vice president.
Since 2009 Bertoli has held the position of general director of Cassa del Trentino, and has previously been an advisor to Laborfonds. Ebner was general secretary of the CGIL-AGB union in the city of Bolzano, and president of the INPS regional committee of the Trentino-Alto Adige region.
Other members of the new board of directors of Laborfonds include Wolfgang Alber, Francesco Antoniolli, Paul Gänsbacher, Werner Gramm and Alessandro Lunelli representing employers, while Fabrizio Bignotti, Walter Gasser, Andrea Grosselli, Alex Piras and Matteo Salvetti represent employees.
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