Border to Coast, NN, Af2i, Redington, Mirabaud, Cairn Capital, American Century Investments, Xafinity Punter Southall, Aon, Fidelity International, Mens & Kennis, Société Générale, AMX

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership – The £43bn asset pool for 12 UK local government pension schemes (LGPS) has announced several senior appointments, including John Harrison as interim chief investment officer. Harrison – a former CIO at UBS, responsible for its UK institutional business – will start his new role next month, dropping the advisory work he had been doing before in his capacity as managing director at consultants Allenbridge. Border to Coast said it would appoint a permanent CIO in due course.

Manda McConnell joins Border to Coast as chief risk officer. She has more than 25 years financial services experience including 20 years within leading banks, insurance and asset management firms. Mark Lyon is currently head of investments at East Riding Pension Fund, and has played a major role in the Border to Coast project team over the last two years. He will join the pool as head of equities and alternatives.

NN – Sebastiaan van den Dries has been appointed as director of NN’s CDC Pension Fund board office. He joins from Shell where he was defined contribution plan manager. Before that he worked at Deloitte as director of pension and benefits advisory. One of his first responsibilities will be to implement a new pension arrangement, as the current scheme runs until 1 January 2019. Employers and unions will discuss a new agreement this year.

Association française des investisseurs institutionnels (Af2i) – The French institutional investor association has hired Sylvie Malécot as a director. The association is looking to expand its permanent staff as part of a strategic plan to grow its influence in the interests of the country’s institutional investors.

Malécot is founding chairman of the firm Millenium Actuariat & Conseil, an asset management advisory firm dedicated primarily to institutional investors. She has nearly 20 years of experience in asset management and institutional investing.

Redington – The UK investment consultant has hired Marian Elliott as head of integrated actuarial to provide actuarial expertise as the firm seeks to expand its capabilities. In a press release, Redington said Elliott’s appointment would enable it to “deliver a level of consultancy beyond investment” and in compliance with the regulator’s push for ‘integrated risk management’. She was previously actuarial director at Deloitte.

Mirabaud – The Swiss financial group has appointed four staff from Northern Trust Capital Markets to create a new research and analysis arm known as the Global Thematic Group. Neil Campling will lead the group as global analyst, along with head of sales Toby Clothier. Mark Taylor and Chris Bishop have also joined Mirabaud’s new venture. All four transferred to Northern Trust in 2016 as part of its acquisition of brokerage firm Aviate Global.

Daniel White, head of strategy at Mirabaud, said: “We are very excited by this highly complementary product offering and are looking forward to working alongside the Global Thematic Group in our ongoing mission to deliver unique insights and analysis that aid investor decision-making and ultimately generate returns.”

Cairn Capital – The alternative credit specialist has hired Melissa Bockelmann to strengthen its business development team in the Nordic Region and Germany. Bockelmann was previously a director at 3i Debt Management, responsible for fundraising in Europe. She has also worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and AXA Investment Managers. In addition, Zachary Farmer has joined from Camares Capital to focus on North American business development. 

American Century Investments – The $180bn (€145bn) asset manager has named Pia Michelsson as head of Nordic Region. She joins from Icelandic firm Alda Asset Management, where she was managing director for business development in Iceland and Finland. Michelsson will be based in American Century Investments’ London office and oversee the company’s targeted expansion in the Nordics.

Xafinity Punter Southall – The newly merged pensions consultancy has hired Wayne Segers to lead Punter Southall Transaction Services, which advises companies on “the acquisition and disposal of defined benefit pension schemes”, according to its website. He joins from KPMG where he was a director in the company’s London pension practice. 

Aon – Mike Smaje has joined global consultancy firm Aon as a partner in its global investment practice. He was previously an investment specialist for Aberdeen Standard, focusing on liability driven investment. Before that he spent nearly 20 years in consultancy roles at Willis Towers Watson.

Fidelity International – Hugh Prendergast will join the asset management giant next month as global head of product, a newly created role. He will be responsible for the company’s product teams around the world, and its global product development strategy. He previously worked for Pioneer Investments for 16 years, most recently as head of strategic product and marketing. 

Mens & Kennis – The Dutch consultancy firm has hired Guurtje Wolters as a partner. She previously worked for the country’s regulator, De Nederlandsche Bank, for 12 years, latterly as a supervisor for pension funds. 

Société Générale – Anna Grebenchtchikova has joined the French banking group as vice president of solution sales in the Netherlands as part of its plans to focus more on Dutch pension clients. Grebenchtchikova previously worked at political party D66 and Goldman Sachs. She has been a board member of Pensioenfonds Medewerkers Apotheken and CNV Jongeren.

Asset Management Exchange (AMX) – Kimberley West is the new US head of AMX, the institutional investment platform set up by Willis Towers Watson last year. The newly created position reflects AMX’s plans to expand into the US, after recently surpassing $3bn in assets under management. West joins from BlackRock where she was a managing director and product strategist in its active equity business. She has also worked for JP Morgan for 12 years in a variety of roles. West will be based in New York and will report to global head of AMX Oliver Jaegemann.

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