Stapi, NIBC, Dimensional, IIGCC, FRC, IPFA, Lazard, Gildi, VanEck, DNCA, Investcorp, IVS, Pemberton, The People’s Pension, Invest-NL, Het Nederlandse Pensioenfonds

Stapi Pension Fund – Brynjar Þór Hreinsson has been appointed as the new CIO of Iceland’s Stapi Pension Fund. He is taking over from Arne Vagn Olsen, who has now left, having been in the role since 2012. 

The pension fund has also appointed Ottó Hólm Reynisson as risk director. He previously worked in the risk management department at Íslandsbanki. He is replacing Jóna Finndís Jónsdóttir, who has been risk manager since 2012, and is now moving to new position as head of legal affairs.

Vagn Olsen has joined LV, the pension fund for the commerce sector, as chief investment officer.

Dimensional – The €476bn asset manager has appointed ABP trustee Erik van Houwelingen as head of European sales for its UK business, Dimensional Fund Advisors. He has been working with the group as a consultant for the past year, and will take up his new role in September, Dimensional said.

As a result, Van Houwelingen will step down from ABP’s trustee board, where he has been chair of the investment committee since 2012. He is also leaving his role as chairman of Achmea Investment Management’s supervisory board. He is also a former CEO of Aegon Asset Management.

NIBC – Angelien Kemna has been nominated as a member of the supervisory board (RvC) of Dutch investment bank NIBC. She is to become chair of the company’s risk policy and compliance committee.

Kemna has been chief investment officer as well chief finance and risk officer at the €480bn asset manager APG. She has also held several supervisory and advisory roles. Currently, she is on the RvC of AXA Group and Railpen Investment Board, the asset manager of UK industry-wide pension fund for railways.

Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) – The board of IIGCC has four new members following recent elections: Sasja Beslik, head of group sustainable finance at Nordea Group; Tatiana Bosteels, director of responsibility and head of responsible property investment at Hermes Investment Management; Gerald Cartigny, CIO at MN; and Adam Matthews, director of ethics and engagement at the Church of England Pensions Board.

IIGCC chair Peter Damgaard Jensen, CEO of Danish pension fund manager PKA, said: “IIGCC’s growing network across Europe will benefit immensely from their experience as we continue to engage with policymakers, companies and fellow investors in support of a prosperous low carbon future.”

Financial Reporting Council (FRC) – The UK audit watchdog has announced that Mike Suffield will be its acting executive director of audit and actuarial regulation, following confirmation that Melanie Hind is stepping down to take up a family opportunity overseas.

Suffield joined the FRC in July 2016 as director of audit quality, having previously been a director at the National Audit Office. He will take up his new role at the beginning of August.

Hind joined the FRC in June 2012, initially as executive director for codes and standards before assuming her current role in April 2016. She led the reform of the UK’s generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and the development of the country’s corporate governance code, the FRC said. 

Icelandic Pension Funds Association (IPFA) — Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir has been appointed as the new chair of the IPFA, replacing the industry body’s long-standing chairman Þorbjörn Guðmundsson, who resigned at the latest annual meeting. Hafsteinsdóttir is chair of the Federation of Icelandic Industries and chair of the board of trustees of the Pension Fund of Commerce.

Lazard Asset Management – Bill Smith has retired from his role as UK CEO of Lazard. Jeremy Taylor, previously managing director and global co-director of research, took over from Smith on 30 June and has assumed responsibility for the asset manager’s operations in the UK, the Middle East and parts of Europe. Taylor joined Lazard in 2003 from UBS.

Gildi — Kolbeinn Gunnarsson, chairman of the Icelandic trade union Hlíf, has been appointed as the new chairman of the supervisory board at Gildi pension fund. He is replacing Harpa Ólafsdóttir, who has stepped down after resigning as head of the Employment Committee of Trade Unions. Ólafsdóttir is changing jobs, having been recently appointed as head of the Department of Equal Opportunities at the City of Reykjavik council.

At the same time, Ingibjörg Ólafsdóttir, chief executive of the trade union Efling, has been appointed as a new member of Gildi’s supervisory board.

VanEck – The exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider has appointed Martijn Rozemuller as its European head. He was previously managing director of Dutch ETF provider Think ETFs, which was acquired by Van Eck at the beginning of the year. The transaction is now complete and the Think ETFs brand will remain in use “for the time being”, VanEck said.

Rozemuller will form a European board of operations for VanEck as it expands its presence in the region, alongside co-founder of Think ETFs Gijs Koning. The company currently runs roughly $45bn and is one of the US’ biggest ETF providers. The Think ETFs acquisition added an Amsterdam office and brought its European assets to $2.6bn.

DNCA Finance – The French investment group – an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers – has created a responsible investment department led by Léa Dunand-Chatellet. It follows the company signing up to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment last year. She will be responsible for hiring a team ahead of planned fund launches later this year.

Dunand-Chatellet was previously equity CIO at Mirova, overseeing 10 managers and €3.5bn. She has also worked at Sycomore Asset Management, where she set up several socially responsible investing funds, and at Oddo Securities.

Investcorp – The alternative investments specialist has appointed Dominic Courtman as director of its European credit management business. He is also a portfolio manager. Based in London, Courtman will oversee closed-end credit funds and separately managed accounts. He joins from Rothschild & Co where he worked for 13 years as a credit portfolio manager.

Separately, Investcorp has also announced that Ann-Kristin Achleitner has joined its international advisory board. She is a business economist and professor of entrepreneurial finance studies at the Technical University of Munich in Germany. She also sits on the supervisory boards of several large German companies.

Achleitner has received several awards for research and teaching, including the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2014.

IVS – The institute of actuarial experts for pensions, a branch of the German actuarial association (DAV), has reshuffled its leadership. Friedemann Lucius, member of the executive board of consultancy firm Heubeck, has taken over as chair from Horst-Günther Zimmermann, who stepped down from the board after six years. Stefan Oecking, partner at Mercer, replaces Lucius as deputy chairman. 

Pemberton – Antoine Josserand has been appointed head of business development at Pemberton, a credit asset manager backed by Legal & General. In the newly created position he is responsible for Pemberton’s institutional business worldwide. He was previously head of international fund distribution for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Citigroup, and has also worked Pioneer and AXA Investment Managers.

The People’s Pension – The UK’s second largest defined contribution master trust has named Chris Fagan as a trustee. He is an associate director at consultant Muse Advisory, and previously worked in Willis Towers Watson’s investment advisory and fiduciary management teams, as well as being a trustee of the consulting giant’s pension fund.

Invest-NL – The Dutch government has appointed Wouter Bos as chief executive of its financing institution Invest-NL, effective from October. The new organisation – to be officially established next year – is to support and co-finance companies, projects and start-ups with social impact and an uncertain risk-return ratio and long duration, such as energy transition, sustainability and mobility.

Bos is a former treasury secretary and and deputy prime minister under former leader Jan Peter Balkenende between 2007 and 2010. After his political career, he became a partner at KPMG. Since 2013, he has been CEO of the VU Medisch Centrum in Amsterdam.

Het Nederlandse Pensioenfonds – Gijs Flameling has started as policy adviser and compartment director at Het Nederlandse Pensioenfonds, the general pension fund (APF) set up by insurer ASR. In his new role, he is supporting the APF’s stakeholders body.

Prior to this, Flameling was senior policy advisor at the €1.1bn Arcadis Pensioenfonds, which is currently in liquidation. On 1 July, the scheme joined the general pension fund in an individual compartment.

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