People moves: NEST seeks to build its responsible investing expertise

NEST -  Minister for Pensions, Laura Trott has reappointed Karen Cham to the Nest board, while the board has appointed Katrina Shenton to Nest’s Investment Committee, the body overseeing the pension scheme’s investment strategy.

Cham joined Nest’s Board in 2019 and has been reappointed for a second term of three years, from 1 July 2024 until 30 June 2027 

Appointed for her extensive experience in both growth management and responsible investing, Shenton will bring a strong governance mindset to Nest’s investment committee, the scheme said. She has experience in entrepreneurship, private equity, ESG, impact investments, B-corp, climate change and renewable energy. Previous roles include a stint as a trustee of SolarAid, non-executive director and chair of the investment committee for Applerigg, and a member of Octopus Investments’ responsible investment committee.

Brendan McCafferty, chair of Nest, said: “Nest’s board thrives on diversity of thought and backgrounds – Karen’s experience in digital transformation, design and user experience has been key to supporting the Board’s focus on how technology can help communicate and engage with our members. Katrina’s strong governance mindset combined with her experience and passion for responsible investment and ESG will help further strengthen our investment committee as we continue to grow and invest for our members.

”These appointments ensure we have the right skills and experience to support our governance framework during this busy and strategic time for Nest. I look forward to Karen’s continued support and Katrina’s new involvement.”

Gresham House - the specialist alternative asset manager has appointed Chris Coulton, Jane O’Connor and Vanessa Owen to its Sustainable Infrastructure strategy, managing the BSIF Funds and their connected sidecars. 

Coulton joins Gresham House as director and deputy head of portfolio within Sustainable Infrastructure, having previously worked as a portfolio director at LDC Private Equity and as a director at Deloitte.

O’Connor joins as an investment analyst. Prior to joining Gresham House, she worked as an investment analyst for the renewable energy funds at Temporis Capital focusing on investing in solar, wind and battery storage assets.

Owen joins as a portfolio analyst.

Peter Bachmann, managing director of sustainable infrastructure at Gresham House said: “We are excited to welcome Chris, Jane, and Vanessa to the team at a time of significant growth in our strategy, ahead of the close of BSIF II later this year. With these appointments, we continue to achieve our goal of having a fully gender and background balanced Sustainable Infrastructure team and demonstrate our commitment to inclusive employment policies.

“Each individual brings a wealth of experience and a proven history of helping companies to grow and prosper. Working across BSIF’s six subsectors, these exceptional individuals will help further to build out the portfolio management and resources we can provide to support the growth of our 12 portfolio companies and the successful BSIF platform overall.”

LawDeb Pension Trustees - has appointed Lok Ma as a director in its pension trustee team.

Ma joins after 24 years at Willis Towers Watson, where he worked as a defined benefit solutions specialist within the Total Portfolio Solutions team in the investment practice. He has significant expertise providing advice on investment strategy and funding implications for large pension schemes.

Vicky Paramour, managing director of LawDeb’s pensions practice said: “We are delighted to have Lok join LawDeb. We are always looking to add depth and breadth to our team, and Lok’s appointment does just that. His client-focused approach combined with specialist experience in funding, investment and integrated risk management means he will be an invaluable addition to our trustee team.”

Ma added: ”I’m thrilled to join the LawDeb team and am excited about embarking on the next phase of my career. I look forward to capitalising on my experience and contributing to the continuing success of the group.”

Stafford Capital Partners – has appointed Marta Jankovic as head of sustainability. Jankovic will be based in Stafford’s Rotterdam office, reporting to CEO, Angus Whiteley. She will focus on shaping Stafford’s sustainable investing strategy, fostering engagement with clients, policy and industry stakeholders. 

Before joining Stafford, Jankovic was responsible for the delivery of client-responsible investment policy objectives at APG Asset Management.

Whiteley said: “Marta’s experience, attitude and knowledge of the evolving policy environment when it comes to EU and global standards make her a wonderful addition to our experienced team. She is well placed to help guide our investment strategies and deliver on our clients’ responsible investment objectives.”

Jankovic added: “This is a highly valued opportunity for me to work closely with an investment manager that has embedded responsible investing from the ground up, and therefore has deep experience and appreciation of the importance of delivering sustainability strategies, both within its own business and for its clients.”

Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA) – James Alexander, the CEO of the UK Sustainable Investment Forum, has been appointed chair of the GSIA, taking over from Simon O’Connor. The GSIA’s next sustainable investment review will be published in November.

Alexander said: “I am delighted to take on the role of chair of the GSIA, and look forward to further enhancing the organisation’s mission, impact, and reach across global markets. The GSIA has a clear role to play in promoting the integration and growth of sustainability in financial services across the world, raising the voice of sustainable finance at the global level, and crucially facilitating greater harmonisation of regulatory standards over the coming years.”

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