People moves: Fidelity hires from Amundi for successor to Rossi

Fidelity International, BlackRock, KLM, Cindu International, Macquarie, Bouwinvest, Hymans Robertson, Jupiter Asset Management, HSBC Global Asset Management, Barnett Waddingham, OppenheimerFunds

Fidelity International – The asset management giant has poached Romain Boscher from Amundi Asset Management to be its new global CIO for equities, effective 30 April 2018. He succeeds Dominic Rossi, who has moved to a public policy role within Fidelity. Boscher joined Amundi in 2011, and was previously deputy CEO and CIO at Groupama.

Bart Grenier, global head of asset management at Fidelity International, described Boscher as “an investor with an exceptional track record”. He added: “Our equities franchise is a significant part of our business and we are passionate about delivering great active returns for our clients. I am delighted to welcome someone of such calibre into the company and I know that our equities franchise will continue to thrive and develop for the benefit of our clients under his leadership.”

BlackRock – The world’s largest asset manager has appointed Meaghan Muldoon to lead its sustainable investing operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She was previously the group’s managing director of corporate strategy, based in New York, but has now relocated to London. She reports to Brian Deese, a former adviser to the US government who joined BlackRock last year.

Muldoon worked in US government for more than 10 years, serving both the Barack Obama and George W Bush administrations. Her roles included deputy assistant to president Obama and counsellor to the US Treasury secretary. 

In a memo to staff, BlackRock said sustainable investment in Europe was one of its “biggest opportunities”. “Growth in sustainable investing is predicated on our ability to engage with clients to understand the outcomes they are seeking and to leverage our platform to deliver scalable solutions,” the memo said.

KLM – Paul Loven has been appointed independent chairman of the KLM Pension Fund, effective from 1 February. Loven previously served as chief financial and risk officer at PGGM from 2009 to 2015. Prior to that, he was a member of the executive board of Van Lanschot Bank. In addition to his position at the KLM Pension Fund, Loven is a commissioner at a care organisation and he works as a consultant and coach on governance issues. His predecessor as chairman was Eltjo Kok, who took office in 2011 and retired in July 2017.

Cindu International – Rita van Ewijk is the new chair of the Dutch pension fund of former chemicals company Cindu International as it prepares to join a general pension fund (APF). She was previously deputy director at ASR Verzekeringen, with responsibility for pension administration outsourcing and the establishment of the insurer’s APF. Before joining ASR, Van Ewijk was chair of the board of the Hoogovens pension fund and has also worked for APG. She succeeds Jacco Heemskerk, who left in October to lead Willis Towers Watson’s investment consulting team in the Netherlands.

Macquarie Group –  The Australian-headquartered financial services group has made two hires to its transition management team, following the group’s appointment to the National LGPS Framework. Paul McGee joins Macquarie as a senior vice president, and Ben Mooney joins as a vice president. Both will join the group’s commodities and global markets group to assist institutional investors in moving money between mandates.

McGee is a former head of State Street Global Markets’ transition management team, but left in 2016. Since then he has had spells in the transition management operations of private bank Coutts and asset manager M&G. Mooney joins directly from State Street Global Markets, and has previously worked at Wellington Management, Royal Bank of Canada and HSBC.

Bouwinvest – The real estate investment arm of pension fund BpfBouw has restructured and expanded the acquisition team of Bouwinvest Residential Funds. The changes are designed to help the fund achieve its goal of investing €600m by 2020. Casper Hulsman becomes acquisition manager for residential and is responsible for purchases in The Hague, Leiden and western North Holland. Christian Schouten has been appointed as coordinator, also responsible for the acquisitions in Amsterdam, Utrecht and east Netherlands. 

Hymans Robertson – Risk-transfer expert Michael Abramson has joined consultancy firm Hymans Robertson as a partner and risk transfer specialist. He joins from Prudential where he was director of wholesale transactions. In 15 years working in consulting and insurance, including roles at Legal & General and Mercer, Abramson has worked on some of the largest derisking deals ever completed in the UK, his new employer said in a statement.

Jupiter Asset Management – The UK-based listed asset manager has hired Talib Sheikh as head of strategy for multi-asset. He will join in June from JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) to lead Jupiter’s expansion of its multi-asset offerings. Sheikh worked at JPMAM for nearly 20 years, building out the company’s multi-asset solutions team from inception in 2004.

HSBC Global Asset Management – Fredrik Cygnaeus has joined HSBC GAM as managing director of its branch in Sweden. He will be responsible for building the group’s business across the Nordic region. He joins from Invesco where he led the company’s external wholesale business in the Nordics. He has also worked at Fidelity.

Barnett Waddingham – The UK consultant has hired Mark Stocker its corporate consulting team. A qualified actuary, Stocker specialises in “pension scheme disputes, contentious matters and acting in an expert witness capacity”, the company said. He provided expert evidence to court in Ontario in relation to the collapse of Nortel Networks. He was previously a director and chief actuary at Conduent HR Services, and has also worked in senior roles at Mercer and LCP.

OppenheimerFunds – Charles Oldmeadow has joined the US-based asset manager as business development director, focusing on intermediary clients and institutions in the UK. He joins from Jupiter Asset Management where he was responsible for discretionary wealth managers.