Irish Funds, CPR AM, CCLA, Pictet, Liontrust, L&G, ATP, Russell Investments, BaFin, Hannoversche Kasse
Russell Investments – Zach Buchwald has been selected to serve as chief executive officer and as chair of the firm’s board of directors. Based in Russell Investments’ global headquarters in Seattle, Buchwald will take the helm effective 1 May as the firm’s eighth CEO in 87 years. He will succeed Michelle Seitz, who departed the firm late last year.
As CEO, Buchwald will drive Russell Investments’ continued growth and results at a time when the firm’s client-focused approach is directly aligned with the intensifying need for outcome-oriented solutions and when the global capital markets are demanding agile, risk-managed total portfolio management.
Buchwald joins from BlackRock where, as the head of its institutional business in North America, he was responsible for delivering BlackRock’s investment capabilities to the firm’s institutional clients. Prior to this role, he led BlackRock’s Financial Institutions Group and earlier he helped establish its retirement solutions and financial markets advisory platforms.
Buchwald has focused much of his career on improving financial security for retirees, which is also central to Russell Investments’ stated mission.
ATP – Tanja Ulevik Vestergaard has been appointed as deputy director of operational risk management and compliance for Denmark’s biggest pension fund. She joins the firm from her current role as head of non-financial risk, technology and services at Danske Bank, where she has worked for over 15 years, according to her recent post on LinkedIn.
Legal & General (L&G) – Robert Waugh has been appointed as the new chair of trustees for the L&G Mastertrust, the largest commercial master trust in the UK market, effective from 1 July 2023.
Waugh has more than 35 years of investment and pensions experience, most recently as the CEO and the chief financial officer of the NatWest Group Pension Fund, where he was instrumental in the growth of the scheme’s assets and improved funding level over the course of his 13 year tenure.
During his time at NatWest, Waugh increased the scheme’s exposure to alternatives such as wind farms, forestry, anaerobic digestion and net zero retirement villages, demonstrating his expertise and proven track record in allocating capital sustainably across private markets.
Waugh has held a number of roles as a non-executive director across the industry, most recently serving on the board for the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s (PLSA) Cost Transparency Initiative between 2018 and 2022, which delivered a pensions industry standard on transparency and cost analysis. Prior to that, he worked as a trustee – and latterly as the chair – for the Defined Contribution RBS Retirement Savings Plan between 2010 and 2017.
Waugh replaces Dermot Courtier, who is stepping down on 30 June 2023 after two terms as the chair of trustees, having joined in 2017. During his time on the board, Courtier supported employers and members to navigate periods of prolonged market volatility and economic uncertainty, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
BaFin - The German financial supervisory authority has appointed Silke Deppmeyer as the new executive director for its internal administration division.
Deppmeyer has worked at BaFin for 20 years, holding various positions in internal administration and the legal department. She led BaFin’s digital office and the transformation management department. Last April Deppmeyer took over the temporary management of the Strategy, Policy and Control (SPS) division until she became acting head of the internal administration division on 1 November.
Liontrust Asset Management – The specialist independent fund management group is consolidating its global equity teams to provide greater strategic focus over the next few years.
The firm’s global equity team becomes part of its global fundamental team with immediate effect and Robin Geffen will leave Liontrust in due course. The global equity investment team now reports to Tom Record, who is responsible for global equities within the newly enlarged global fundamental team. The exception is the Global Technology Fund, which moves to the global innovation team.
Pictet – Managing partner Bertrand Demole has decided to step down on 30 June this year after more than 12 years as a managing partner and 22 years at Pictet. He will continue as a non-executive vice-chair on the board of Pictet Alternative Advisors Holding SA, the business he spent 20 years developing.
Renaud de Planta, senior managing partner of the Pictet Group, said: “We thank Bertrand for his contribution to Pictet and the partnership over many years. He has been deeply committed to bringing success to the business units under his supervision, from trading to asset services, always leading from the front. We will miss his entrepreneurial spirit but respect his decision and are glad that he has agreed to stay on in a non-executive role.”
Demole said: “I started my first internship at Pictet when I was 13 years old and have devoted my career to the firm out of a passion for its unique heritage.” He added that “now is the time for me to pass on what we have created, but I will remain a permanent ambassador of Pictet”.
CCLA Investment Management – Tessa Younger has been appointed as stewardship lead for the environment. She joined CCLA last month in the newly created role to add capacity and momentum to the significant pioneering work undertaken by climate expert Helen Wildsmith and CCLA’s wider sustainability team.
Younger will lead CCLA’s ‘Better Environment’ work, managing all stewardship on environmental issues, including climate change and nature, with the aim of driving clear improvements at the companies in which CCLA invests. She will work alongside Wildsmith and report to James Corah, head of sustainability at CCLA.
Previously, Younger spent many years at PIRC Ltd – Europe’s largest independent corporate governance and shareholder advisory consultancy – where she most recently held the position of head of engagement. At PIRC, she was responsible for developing active-ownership strategies for asset owner clients, steering engagement with listed corporates, and effecting market-wide change through the promotion of strong policy stances, with a particular focus on climate risk and carbon emissions.
CPR Asset Management – Amundi’s subsidiary has named Bastien Drut as head of research and strategy.
Previous to this new role, Drut was responsible for thematic macro-strategy at CPR AM since 2021. He joined the firm in 2018 as senior economist/strategist, in charge of the US economy and monetary policy monitoring. He began his career in 2008 at Crédit Agricole Asset Management (now Amundi) as a fixed income and foreign exchange strategist.
Drut is also an associate professor at the CNAM (Conservatoire national des arts et métiers) and the author of several books.
Irish Funds – The voice of the funds and asset management industry in Ireland, has appointed Brian McCabe as its new director of data and insights.
McCabe has more than 25 years’ experience in the funds industry, both in Ireland and internationally. During his career he has worked with some of the world’s leading asset managers, across multiple disciplines, including operations, product, innovation and commercialisation.
Prior to joining Irish Funds, McCabe was the global client chief operating officer at State Street, where he was responsible for governance and end-to-end relationships management with key global clients. Prior to this he was head of product and innovation for State Street EMEA and has held CEO, head of country and a variety of regional and global roles with leading organisations in the funds and asset management industry.
He has worked on both existing and emerging products and technologies to support the investment management lifecycle and led the completion of the first fintech strategy for Ireland, a cross-industry and government initiative.
Hannoversche Kasse – The German occupational pension provider is looking for a CIO as Jana Desirée Wunderlich, currently head of capital investment, takes over the position of Silke Stremlau in the management board in August.
The new head of asset management will take over responsibilities for the organisation and technical management of the pension fund’s asset management department, which currently has three employees. The next CIO will make tactical and operational decisions on real estate, private equity and securities allocations, while further developing sustainable investments.
Hannoversche Kasse is looking for someone with several years of experience in the field of institutional investment, with a strong interest in sustainable finance.
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