Folksam, Varma, BRAM, Covip, Cometa, UBS GAM, Ukraine National Bank, Carne, Investec, William Blair, Irish Life

Folksam – Anders Sundström has announced he is stepping down as chairman at the Swedish insurer and pension provider over possible conflicts of interest due to his chairmanship of major Swedish bank Swedbank. He will resign at the company’s next annual general meeting in April. The company said in a statement that its nomination committee would propose a new chairman at the meeting. Sundström was president and chief executive at Folksam from 2004 to 2013, and was subsequently elected as chairman of Folksam Liv in April this year.

Varma – Ilkka Oksala, Berndt Brunow and Jyri Luomakoski have been appointed to the board of directors at Finnish pensions insurance company Varma, having been elected by the supervisory board. Oksala is director of the Confederation of Finnish Industries, Brunow is chairman of the board at Oy Karl Fazer, and Luomakoski is president and chief executive at Uponor Corporation. The three new members will take up their roles on 1 January, replacing chairman Kari Jordan and board members Lasse Laatunen and Karsten Slotte.

Bradesco Asset Management (BRAM) – Reinaldo Le Grazie has been appointed chief executive after the departure of Joaqium Levy, who left to become finance minister in the Brazilian government. Le Grazie joined BRAM in 2011 as fixed income director. He was promoted to chief executive after Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff won her second term in October’s election, inviting Levy into government. Le Grazie began his career in 1984, working in the Treasury department for Lloyds Bank in Brazil.

Covip – Italy’s pensions regulator has appointed Francesco Massicci as interim chairman, as the four-year tenure of Rino Tarelli drew to an end last week. Massicci, who was already a member of Covip’s board of directors, will chair the organisation until a new chairman is appointed next year. During Tarelli’s tenure, Covip published its ‘investment policy document’, requiring second-pillar pension funds to state their investment policy and build internal risk-management capacity.

Cometa – The €8.3bn Italian pension fund for employees of the mechanical industry has elected a board of directors and board of auditors that will oversee the fund’s investment decisions and compliance with by-laws. The new boards are made up by 12 and six members respectively, equally split between representatives of employers and employees.

UBS Global Asset Management – John Fraser, the manager’s chairman, has stood down from his role to become the secretary of the Treasury for Australia. Fraser will take up his new role mid-January. He joined the asset manager’s banking parent in 1993 in Australia, and eventually led its asset management as chief executive, before appointing Ulrich Koerner in late 2013, taking up his chairmanship. He began his career with the Australian Treasury.

Corporate Non-state Pension Fund of the National Bank of Ukraine – Oleh Kurinnyi has been appointed director for the corporate pension fund of the national bank. He joins after 14 years at Dragon Capital, the last eight as director of Dragon Development. The governor of the bank, Valeriia Gontareva, appointed Kurinnyi.

Carne – Martin Anderson and Neil Clifford join the investment manager advisory firm, adding support to its Alternative Investment Fund Manager Directive (AIFMD) team. Anderson joins from RBC Investor Services, where he oversaw the bank’s sub-custody network, while Clifford joins from Irish Life Investment Managers, where he was head of alternatives. Both will be based in the Dublin office.

Investec Asset Management – Jeff Boswell and Garland Hansmann are to join in March 2015, leaving current roles at Intermediate Capital Group (ICG). Both will lead Investec’s global credit team, focusing on developed markets. Boswell joined ICG in 2008 and Hansmann in 2007 in portfolio management and high-yield investment roles.

William Blair – Peter Gibson has joined the asset manager as head of consultant relations. Gibson joins from M&G Investments, where he was client director and head of consultant relations for its multi-asset and equity business. He also held roles as an investment consultant at KPMG.

Irish Life Investment Managers – Eoin Keating has been appointed to the Irish insurer’s asset management division as head of defined contribution portfolio management. Keating joined in 2007 and worked on a range of roles in defined contribution and defined benefit investment roles.

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