Vidett, AXA IM Alts, XPS, Clara-Pensions, M&G, AllianceBernstein, IGG, BNY, Veritas, SBTi, LUPK
BNY – The firm has appointed Jose Minaya as global head of BNY Investments & Wealth.
Minaya will join on 3 September, reporting to president and chief executive officer Robin Vince, and will be a member of the firm’s executive committee. This appointment follows Hanneke Smits’s decision to retire; she will continue in her current role until 3 September, at which time she will transition to chair of BNY Investments through to the end of 2024 to support a seamless transition.
Minaya joins from Nuveen, where he previously served as president and chief investment officer, responsible for overseeing all global operating and investment activities across equities, fixed income, real estate, private markets, natural resources, alternatives and responsible investments.
Veritas – The Finnish pension insurer has appointed Laura Wickström as new CIO. She is an internal hire and previously worked as deputy and interim CIO and portfolio manager, responsible for private equity and other illiquid investments.
Wickström replaces Kari Vatanen who left at the end of April to join rival pension insurer Elo as head of asset allocation on 1 November, until then he is on gardening leave.
Earlier in her career, prior to joining Veritas, Wickström was the CEO of AIM Capital, a Finnish alternative investment management firm.
Carl Haglund, CEO of Veritas, said in a statement that Wickström has the right experience and understanding of the markets that the demanding task requires.
M&G – Paul Evans, who currently serves as chair of Allianz and non-executive director at Bupa, has been appointed as an independent non-executive director at M&G, effective from October 2024.
Evans brings senior leadership experience in financial services, specifically in life insurance and asset management. His distinguished career spans 17 years at AXA, where he held various senior roles, including group CEO of AXA’s global life, savings, and health businesses.
Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) – Luiz Amaral has informed the board of the SBTi that he intends to step down from his role as CEO for personal reasons.
Susan Jenny Ehr, currently chief legal officer, will step in as interim CEO, with support by the board. The decision will take effect at the end of July and Amaral will support the changeover of leadership. A recruitment process for a permanent CEO has started.
Amaral cited personal reasons for resigning. “These issues require my full attention at this time, prompting my decision to step down,” he said.
Luzerner Pensionskasse (LUPK) – The pension fund for the Swiss canton of Luzerne has appointed Fabio Camilli as its new CEO, effective from 1 November.
Camilli succeeds Reto Tarreghetta, who resigned as managing director of the CHF9.8bn (€10.3bn) pension fund after six years in the role. Camilli, a finance and pension fund specialist, relies on years of experience in asset management, including several years in institutional asset management (foundations and pension funds). He worked at Credit Suisse, VZ Asset Management and VZ Depotbank.
Clara-Pensions – The pensions consolidation company for defined benefit pensions schemes has appointed Matt Wilmington as chief transactions officer, a critical role meant to drive the company’s future growth and development.
Before his new role, Wilmington spent six years as Scottish Widows where he was head of origination and structuring.
At Clara-Pensions he will oversee all hiring activities and ensure that new users are smoothly integrated into the company’s platform. Clara-Pensions, which manages £1.2bn in assets and has over 20,000 members, is expanding, and this appointment comes at a crucial time.
Independent Governance Group (IGG) – The provider of professional pensions, trusteeship and governance services in the UK has announced a series of promotions and new hires to strengthen its team.
Dan Gilmour and Michael Do have both been promoted to trustee director, reflecting their significant contributions and expertise in employer covenant advisory and pension scheme management.
The promotions are part of IGG’s commitment to excellence and growth, highlighting its team-based approach and diverse talent pool.
With expansions into regional markets and the launch of innovative services such as IGGnite and IGGiQ, IGG continues to set benchmarks in professional trusteeship and governance, supporting over 100 appointments as sole corporate trustee and providing comprehensive pensions support services.
XPS Pensions Group – Arabella Slinger has been appointed head of covenant advisory.
With XPS’s acquisition of Penfida in September 2022 and the integration of its workforce, Slinger will take over the leadership of the XPS/Penfida covenant team from Paul Jameson, who has led the business since the acquisition.
Jameson will continue in the business providing specialist covenant advice to clients.
Slinger joined Penfida in 2006 from Merrill Lynch, and brings a wealth of experience and leadership to her new role. She will oversee more than 20 covenant specialists, with a focus on offering strategic and comprehensive counsel to clients managing assets valued at more than £300bn.
AXA IM Alts – The asset manager has expanded its presence globally by establishing its first office in the Middle East. Situated in the international financial hub of Abu Dhabi, the new office is AXA IM Alts’ 16th site worldwide.
AXA IM Alts has appointed Ammar Bukhamsin and promoted François Boissin to co-heads of the MENA client group alts.
Additionally, Bukhamsin will serve as senior executive officer of AXA IM Middle East. Both will report to Florence Dard, global head of client group at AXA IM Alts.
Bukhamsin, who has more than 20 years of experience, joins from Natixis where he spent over eight years, of which the last three years he was the CEO for Saudi Arabia.
Boissin, who has been with AXA for the past nine years, will remain based in Paris, concentrating on growing AXA IM Alts’ presence and clientele in the MENA area.
Vidett – The firm has made a major leadership transition by appointing Wayne Phelan as its sole CEO. This decision follows a reshuffle at board level, with Naomi L’Estrange – with whom Phelan shared the co-CEO role – stepping down at the end of her notice period and taking time away from the business.
Phelan will now be in charge of driving Vidett’s strategic goals and maintaining its growth after merging with Punter Southall Governance Services (PSGS) last year.
L’Estrange was key to the merger and the success of 20-20 Trustees with PSGS. Under Phelan, Vidett aims to build upon its strong foundation and continue to provide exemplary trustee services to its clients.
AllianceBernstein – The firm has named Andrew Chin as its first-ever chief artificial intelligence officer, confirming its commitment to leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for transformative impact across its operations.
Chin, with more than 27 years at AllianceBernstein, previously served as head of quantitative research and chief data scientist. In his new role, he will spearhead AI initiatives aimed at enhancing investment research, operational efficiencies, and business procedures.
Chin’s appointment reflects AllianceBernstein’s strategic focus on harnessing data science to deliver superior client outcomes and drive further innovation in the financial services industry.
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