Koopvaardij, APG, TELA, DNB, Towers Watson, BlackRock, Schroder Investment Management

KoopvaardijErnst Hagen has been named a member of the supervisory board of Koopvaardij, the pension fund for the merchant navy. He is also head of fiduciary management at F&C Netherlands, and was until 2010 head of asset management at the pension fund for the hospitality industry Horeca & Catering.

APG – Gerben De Zwart has been appointed head of quant equities at the asset manager. Previously, De Zwart was head of quantitative equity research as well as senior portfolio manager at APG. He has also worked as a quantitave analyst at ING Investment Management and Robeco.

TELA – Timo Ritakallio has been elected chairman of the Finnish Pensions Alliance (TELA). Ritakallio, who was named as pension mutual Ilmarinen’s new chief executive in September last year, replaces former chairman Harri Sailas. Sailas was was chief executive of Ilmarinen for eight years, and served as TELA’s chairman from 2006 until his retirement. 

De Nederlandsche Bank – Wim Kuijken has been appointed chairman of the Dutch regulator’s supervisory board. Kuiken is to succeed Alexander Rinnooy Kan, who stepping down to run for the Dutch Senate. 

Towers WatsonHarm Blaak has been promoted to leader, risk consulting & software for Northen, Central and Eastern Europe as of 1 July. He is to combine this task with his current position as leader risk consulting & software for the Benelux. As of 1 July, he will be responsible for the entire service provision for insurers in both regions.

BlackRockMarc van Heel has decided to step down from his current position as country manager for the Benelux, but will continue to serve as a non-executive director for BlackRock Netherlands. Meanwhile, Peter Nielsen, BlackRock’s country manager for the Nordics and head of BlackRock’s continental European institutional business, will temporarily take over as country manager for the Benelux, while keeping his current responsibilities. Leen Meijaard, previously head of iShares EMEA Sales, has been appointed as chairman of Benelux. In this new position, Meijaard will play a critical role in strategic account leadership for key current and prospective accounts in the Benelux.

Schroder Investment Management Daniel Lösche has joined Schroders market and competition analysis team in Frankfurt. In his new role, he will work on capital market strategy, reporting to head of insurance Charles Neus.