People moves: Former USS CIO to chair UK infrastructure fund (updated)

Gresham House, BSIF, VFPK, PensionDanmark, VFPK, BPL Pensioen, Pensioenstichting Transport, GroupLife, Penvita, Mercer, VvV, Aegon, Willis Towers Watson

Gresham House – Peter Moon is stepping down from the alternative asset manager’s board to become chairman of the investment committee of its patient capital fund for UK housing and infrastructure-related assets, the British Strategic Investment Fund (BSIF). 

Moon was chief investment officer of the now £60bn (€67bn) Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) for 17 years, retiring in 2009. Before USS he used to manage investments at the British Airways Pension Scheme and the then National Provident Institution (now Phoenix Life). Moon joined the board of Gresham House in July 2014 and helped oversee the manager’s transformation under a new management team.

He will be replaced on the board by Simon Stilwell, who joined Gresham House as a non-executive director this week. Stilwell was chief executive of Liberum, the investment bank he co-founded in 2007, until 2015. 

The Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund, which has a 20% stake in Gresham House, is a cornerstone investor in BSIF. The fund raised £150m in commitments from Berkshire and another UK local government pension scheme for a first close in June. Gary Steinberg, former CIO of the International Monetary Fund and the Wellcome Trust, has been working alongside Moon on the investment committee of the incipient fund.

LGPS Central – Five new senior hires have been made by the asset management company set up to manage the £40bn of assets of nine Midlands-based local government pension schemes (LGPS). Mike Vinton joins as chief compliance and risk officer, Sharon Johal as general counsel, David Kane as head of finance, David Evans as investment director for passive equities and Adam Neilson as head of information technology. 

Vinton was most recently head of compliance and money laundering reporting officer at Nestlé Capital Management Limited, while Johal was previously head of legal at Kuwait Investment Office. They complete LGPS Central’s senior executive team, which also comprises Andrew Warwick-Thompson as CEO, John Burns as chief operating and financial officer, and Jason Fletcher as CIO.

Verband der Firmenpensionskassen (VFPK) — The board of the association of German corporate pension funds has been reorganised following the death of its head, Peter Hadasch. Helmut Aden, member of the board of BVV, has succeeded Hadasch as chairman. Carsten Ebsen, of the Hamburg Pensionskasse, has taken over the role of first deputy chair and Andreas Hilka, member of the board of at the €7.9bn German Hoechst Pensionskasse, that of second deputy chairperson. Hilka is the newest member of the VFPK board, having been elected to his role in July. Aden has been a VFPK board member since 2006 and Ebsen since 2011. One of the founders of the VFPK, Hadasch died in October aged 64. 

PensionDanmark — Emilie Juel-Helwig has been appointed to the newly-created position of head of corporate sustainability at PensionDanmark, having been promoted from her job as personal assistant to the chief executive Torben Möger Pedersen.  

The Danish pension fund explained that until now it has primarily worked with sustainability from an investor perspective. From now on, as head of corporate responsibility, Juel-Helwig will represent PensionDanmark on a broader sustainability agenda. This will include corporate social responsibility and the task of integrating the sustainability agenda and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals into the pension fund’s core business.

BPL Pensioen — Monique van der Poel has been appointed on the supervisory board (RvT) of the €16.6bn pension fund for the agricultural sector (BPL Pensioen). She will focus on communication, pension management and legal matters. Van der Poel is a pensions lawyer and is also a member of the RvT of the €780m industry-wide scheme for dental technicians (Tandtechniek).

Pensioenstichting Transport – Jeroen Tuijp has been named as member of the supervisory board of the €1.1bn company pension fund of delivery firm DHL. Tuijp is actuary, adviser as well as supervisor at consultancy Edmond Halley.

GroupLife — Penvita, which offers eduction for members of Dutch pension funds’ accountability bodies (VO) is to be fully taken over by GroupLife, a consultancy for pension fund strategy and education. Penvita’s founders Kees de Wit, former board member of the €8.6bn pension fund PWRI and Dick van Haaster, former employee chair of the €6.8bn sector scheme for painters and decorators (Schilders) remain tutor and adviser for the VO education business. GroupLife had already become co-owner of Penvita earlier this year.

Mercer — The consultancy has appointed Tony Miller as leader, investment sales solutions in the Netherlands as of 1 January, becoming responsible for the asset management sales strategy for pension funds and insurers. Tiller joins from LGT Capital Partners where he is head of sales for Benelux. Prior to this, he worked at ING Investment Management. Tiller is to co-operate with Jacco Maters, who will head Mercer’s financial sector clients team. In addition to actuarial pensions advice, Mercer is increasing its focus on asset-liability management (ALM) as well as investment services.

VvV—Willem van Duin, executive chairman of Achmea, has been named as new chair of the Dutch Association of Insurers (VvV) as of 20 June 2018 for a two-year period. He will succeed David Knibbe, chief executive of Nationale-Nederlanden, who has been the VvV’s chair since December 2015.

Aegon – William Connelly is to become chairman of the supervisory board of the Dutch provider of life insurance, pensions and asset management services. He will replace Robert Routs, who has decided to step down at company’s next annual general meeting in May. Routs will have served on the board for 10 years by then. Connelly, a French national, has been a member of the supervisory board since May last year. Connelly’s appointment as chairman has been approved by the Dutch central bank. 

Willis Towers Watson – Alberto Gallego has been named head of Iberia, a role he will continue alongside that of head of corporate risk and broking for western Europe. He starts his new role in January, replacing Anton Serrats, who will take on the role of vice president of Willis Towers Watson Iberia. Gallego joined the consultancy in 1990 and has held several senoir leadership positions since then.