Amundi, Financière de l’Echiquier, Norges Bank, PKH, Norwegian Association of Pension Funds, Keva, Varma, Oras Invest, AMF, Saminvest, Folksam, ATP, Bernische Pensionskasse, Avida International, Avenir Suisse, Spence Johnson, Financial Conduct Authority, Hymans Robertson

Amundi – Dominique Carrel-Billiard has been appointed deputy director, responsible for the merger of Amundi and Pioneer Investments. Carrel-Billiard was previously chief executive of the Financière de l’Echiquier (2014-16), where he handled the rollout of the management company in Europe. From 2006 to 2013, he was chief executive at AXA Investment Managers. He joined the AXA Group in 2004 as head of support and development functions after having been associate director at McKinsey (1992-2004).

Norges Bank – Jan Frode Jakobsen has been appointed director of the office of the supervisory council at Norges Bank, the Norwegian central bank, from 1 February next year, replacing Svenn Erik Forsstrøm, who is retiring. The office of the supervisory council undertakes various tasks for and on behalf of the supervisory council. Jakobsen is leaving his position as chief executive of PKH, the Norwegian pension fund for health enterprises in the Oslo area. He will also resign from his role as chairman of the supervisory board of the Norwegian Association of Pension Funds. The association has appointed Eivind Borring Hansen, chief executive of the Halden local authority pension fund, to replace Jakobsen as chairman of the supervisory board, with effect from 1 February. Ole Petter Gjerde, chief executive of the Norsk Hydro pension fund, will continue as the board’s deputy chairman, and Kurt Stordrange, chief executive of the Flekkefjord municipal pension fund, will serve as a board member from 1 February until the next members meeting.

Keva – Reija Hyvärinen has been appointed to the newly created role of chief communications officer (CCO). She comes to the pension fund from the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle, where she has been director of communications for the past six years. Before that, she held managerial news positions and served as director of programming at Yle. The post is a new one created in the context of the broader reorganisation taking place at Keva. The CCO will serve on Keva’s management team, and communications and community relations will report directly to the chief executive from 2017 onwards. Hyvärinen will join Keva in mid-February.

Varma – Jari Paasikivi has been elected as chairman of the board at Varma, with effect from 1 January. He is chief executive of Oras Invest. He will take over from Berndt Brunow, who is chairman of the board at Karl Fazer. Antti Palola, president of the Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees (STTK), and Kai Telanne, chief executive of Alma Media, have been appointed as vice-chairmen.

AMF – Marcus Blomberg has been appointed acting head of asset management at AMF in Sweden, taking over responsibility from Peder Hasslev. AMF has already said Hasslev is leaving the pension fund, where he has been deputy chief executive and CIO, to become chief executive at the new state venture capital fund Saminvest at the beginning of next year. Blomberg has worked as the head of allocation and head of infrastructure and real estate at AMF since 2013. Before that, he was head of asset allocation and deputy CIO at Länsförsäkringar. AMF said the process of recruiting a permanent head of asset management was underway.

Folksam – Daniel Barr, Folksam’s acting CFO, is taking over the role of product director within the group’s private business division. Barr originally came to Folksam to take charge of the introduction of the Solvency II regulatory changes necessary at the group. Jesper Andersson has been appointed as the pensions and insurance group’s new CFO and head of finance. He was previously group chief actuary at Folksam Sak, the group’s non-life insurance subsidiary, and chief executive at accident insurance company Tre Kronor. Meanwhile, Tomas Norderheim, acting product director, is leaving Folksam to retire. Former Folksam employee Anna-Karin Laurell is coming back to the group to become the head of the private business division. Barr and Andersson will take up their new jobs on 1 January, while Laurell will start on 15 January.

ATP – Lars Gøtke has been appointed as a deputy director at ATP’s property division, ATP Real Estate, with responsibility for clients and leasing. He comes to the Danish statutory pension fund from a job as director of World Trade Center A/S, having previously worked for Nordea Real Estate for several years.

Bernische Pensionskasse (BPK) – Werner Hertzog has become the new head of the public pension fund for the Swiss canton of Bern, starting in his role as director on 12 December. Hertzog replaces Hansjürg Schwander, who is retiring. Hertzog served as head of Switzerland’s federal public sector pension fund, Publica, from 2004-2011, and then as managing director of Aon Hewitt Switzerland until 2014. 

Avida International – The independent advisory firm has opened a representative office in Germany. Dorothee Franzen has been appointed head of the office, as managing director for Germany. She is also director of the Allianz-Oxford Pensions Conference and honorary research associate at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford. Franzen was previously director at Allianz Global Investors, where she headed international pension research.

Avenir Suisse – Andreas Müller will leave the Swiss think tank with effect from 31 December. He is leaving to set up on his own think tank, having been vice-director and head of strategic political analysis at the firm. Jakob Schaad, who was most recently deputy chief executive at the Swiss bankers association (Schweizerische Bankiervereinigung), is replacing Müller.

Spence Johnson – Robert Holford is leaving the firm at the end of February to take on a new role at the Financial Conduct Authority. Spence Johnson managing director Magnus Spence will take over Holford’s retirement and strategic consulting responsibilities for the foreseeable future.

Hymans Robertson – Barry McKay is to become head of LGPS Actuarial, working alongside David Walker as head of LGPS Investment and Ian Colvin as head of Benefits Consulting.

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