CTI, ATP, NN IP, PLSA, Natixis, LPFA, The Pension SuperFund, BNP Paribas AM, Artemis, De Nationale, Avebe, Barnett Waddingham, BlackRock, AllianzGI, OpenGamma

Cost Transparency Initiative – CTI, the body set up to monitor the UK’s new investment cost disclosure framework, has appointed 10 board members from asset owners, asset managers and trade associations.

Representing pension funds are: Jason Fletcher, chief investment officer at LGPS Central; Jeff Houston, secretary to the LGPS Advisory Board; Robert Waugh, CIO at the Royal Bank of Scotland Pension Fund; and Joe Dabrowski from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association.

On the asset management side are: Adam Henley from JP Morgan Asset Management; Jane Ivinson, general counsel at Insight Investment; and Jonathan Lipkin, director of public policy at the Investment Association.

Also joining the CTI board are: Jenny Condron, chair of the Association of Consulting Actuaries; Gurpreet Manku, director of policy at the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association; and Angela Roberts, a member of the Financial Services Consumer Panel. 

The CTI is chaired by Mel Duffield, pensions strategy executive at the Universities Superannuation Scheme. It will also have a number of board observers from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Pensions Regulator, and the Trades Union Congress. Chris Sier, who led the creation of the disclosure frameworks as chair of the UK’s Institutional Disclosure Working Group, will act as a board adviser.

ATP/Danske Shoppingcentre —Michael Nielsen has been appointed chief financial officer of Danske Shoppingcentre (DSC), the joint venture set up between Danish pension giants ATP and Danica at the end of 2017. Having left his long-term job as CEO of ATP Real Estate at the end of December, Nielsen will start work in his new role at DSC in Copenhagen on 1 February.

NN IP – Edith Siermann has started as head of fixed income solutions and responsible investing at NN Investment Partners. She has also joined the investment management team.

Siermann has 25 years experience in asset management and joined from supervisor De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), where she was CIO and member of DNB’s corporate social responsibility committee focusing on integrating sustainability into the central bank’s core activities. Prior to this, Siermann was global CIO for fixed income and managing director at Robeco, where she developed fixed income products and activities and co-ordinated responsible investment.

Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) – James Walsh has taken on a new role at the UK pensions trade body, becoming its head of membership engagement. Walsh was previously policy lead for engagement, EU and regulation, and said he would still be working on EU policy in his new role. 

Natixis Investment Managers – The €831bn asset management group has has appointed Andrew Benton to the newly created position of head of northern Europe, tasked with developing its institutional business across the region. Benton was previously head of UK institutional business at State Street Global Advisors, and has previously held senior roles at Barings, Schroders, RCM and Royal London Asset Management.

Oliver Bilal, head of international sales and marketing, said northern Europe was “a key focus” for Natixis’ development. 

London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) – The £5.6bn (€6.3bn) pension fund has appointed Christina Thompson to its trustee board, effective 1 January, for a four-year term. She is currently the acting director of corporate resources at the London Borough of Lambeth, which includes responsibility for the borough’s £1.4bn pension scheme.

The Pension SuperFund – The UK defined benefit scheme consolidator has added Caroline Rookes and Michele Hirons-Wood to its board of trustees.

Rookes is a former chief executive of the UK’s Money Advice Service and also led the private pensions work at the Department for Work and Pensions. She is currently a trustee at the National Employment Savings Trust and the Civil Service Sports Council Superannuation Scheme.

Hirons-Wood is currently head of pensions at UK Power Networks, and holds a number of non-executive roles connected to electricity industry pension bodies.

BNP Paribas Asset Management – The €569bn asset manager has named Sylvain Ghisoni as country sales head for France. He will join the company on 21 January and will be responsible for business development with wholesale and institutional clients.

Ghisoni joins from Amundi , where he was deputy head of distribution for France and Monaco. He was previously head of wholesale and distribution for France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Monaco at Pioneer Investments from 2008 until the company’s acquisition by Amundi in 2017.

Artemis – The UK-based fund manager has hired Antonia Stirling as co-head of stewardship. She joined from Standard Life Aberdeen, where she was head of corporate stewardship from 2010. Before that, Stirling spent five years at Deloitte. At Artemis, Stirling shares the stewardship role with Inez Oliver, who joined Artemis in 2005 and is a corporate governance specialist. 

De Nationale APF – Dutch general pension fund De Nationale APF has appointed Jacob Schoenmaker as executive board member, primarily responsible for asset management, finance and control. He will also be tasked with liaising with the scheme’s business partners NN Investment Partners and Altis.

Schoenmaker has worked at the occupational pension fund for general practitioners (SPH), the Elsevier Pensioenfonds, Rabobank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and several insurers, where he gained experience as CIO, portfolio manager and investment strategist.

Pensioenfonds Avebe – Erik Elderman has been appointed as the new chairman of the €244m Dutch company pension fund Avebe. He succeeds Hans Miedema, who has exceeded his maximum term, after having chaired the scheme for 11 years. Elderman is head of Avebe’s internal audit department. Prior to this, he worked as a chartered accountant at PwC for 10 years.

Barnett Waddingham  – The UK actuarial consultancy group has added Rosie Fantom as a bulk annuity consultant. She joins from Scottish Widows, where she was a founding member of its bulk annuity business and worked on transactions worth a collective £4bn.

Fantom previously worked at the Prudential Regulatory Authority supervising pension insurers, and also helped establish consultancy firm LCP’s bulk annuity business.

BlackRock – The asset management giant has appointed Barbara Kos as head of marketing in the Netherlands. She will be responsible for marketing activities for institutional, retail and iShares clients.

She joins from Pictet AM where she was responsible for market positioning, and left as head of fund distribution for intermediaries. She has also worked in business development at insurer Delta Lloyd and had marketing positions at Fidelity International and ABN Amro.

AllianzGI – Adrian Grammerstorf has joined AllianzGI’s team in Munich from UniCredit, bringing 15 years of mid-market debt experience. Grammerstorf will be responsible for developing the asset manager’s mid-market debt investment activity across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

OpenGamma – The specialist derivatives analytics company has hired Stephen Plestis to lead its sales team. He was previously head of Credit Suisse’s derivatives operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, building the business during a 14-year tenure. He has also spent 10 years at Merrill Lynch in various roles.

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