People moves: Mars investment director joins Delta Lloyd as supervisor

Mars, Delta Lloyd, BlackRock, Longial, Het Nederlandse Pensioenfonds, Cardano, Candriam, Mirabaud, SAREF

Mars Pensioenfonds – Evalinde Eelens has left her role as investment director at the Dutch pension fund of chocolate maker Mars. She has taken up a career as a board member and supervisor for pension funds.

She began working for the boards of the the industry schemes for painters and private security workers in August, and has recently been appointed to the new supervisory board (RvT) of Pensioenfonds Delta Lloyd. Prior to working at Mars, Eelens was a senior investment strategist at PGGM.

Pensioenfonds Delta Lloyd – As well as Eelens, the €3.3bn Pensioenfonds Delta Lloyd has named Peter de Groot and Jeroen Hilbrands as members of its RvT, with De Groot chairing. It has established an RvT because company pension funds with more than €1bn of assets are no longer allowed to use an external visiting committee for internal supervision.

De Groot is a member of the supervisory boards of ABP and the pension fund for the Dutch regulator, DNB. Hilbrands also holds a number of board positions, including the industry schemes Waterbouw and Foodservice. He is also on the visiting committee for Blue Sky Group. 

BlackRock – Jens van Egmond has become head of LDI strategy for the Netherlands at asset manager BlackRock, responsible for designing, developing and supporting investment solutions for existing and potential clients. He will operate from both Amsterdam and London. Van Egmond is also a member of BlackRock’s LDI team for EMEA.

Prior to BlackRock, he worked at Dutch risk manager Cardano, initially as a risk adviser based in Rotterdam and, for the past two years, as consultant to defined contribution pension plans in London. He is also a board member of the €100m Pensioenfonds Sportfondsen.

Longial – Jan Niebuhr has been named managing director of the German pensions consultancy, joining from Pricewaterhouse Coopers. He moved to Longial at the beginning of November and will lead the consultancy together with Michael Hoppstädter. Mark Walddörfer, who was part of the Longial management team since 2012, will leave the company at the end of the year.

Het Nederlandse Pensioenfonds – Astrid Roelofs has started as operational manager at Het Nederlandse Pensioenfonds, the general pension fund (APF) established by insurance company ASR. Roelofs joined from the €1.1bn Pensioenfonds Arcadis, where she was director. The pension fund placed its assets in an individual compartment at the APF as of 1 July.

Cardano – The fiduciary manager has hired Dana Day to its London team as business development director. She was previously regional director for institutional partnerships at the CFA Institute. She has also worked in business development for Aviva’s global financial institutions business.

CEO Kerrin Rosenberg said: “As we near the end of a successful year for the business, we are now looking ahead to what could be a challenging year for the pensions industry. During this time, an increasing number of schemes might seek support in their risk management and asset allocation decisions as the market backdrop demands a more nimble and agile approach.”

Candriam – The Belgian asset manager has appointed Derek Brander as head of UK distribution – he was previously UK wholesale director. Prior to joining Candriam in 2016, he was director of UK wholesale at Natixis and has also worked as a sales manager at GLG Partners, SGAM, Aegon and First State Investments. 

Renato Guerriero, global head of distribution, said Candriam was “committed to the UK market” and planned to expand its presence in the country.

Mirabaud Asset Management – The CHF9bn (€7.9bn) Swiss asset manager has hired Hywel Franklin as head of its European small and mid-cap equities team. He joins from UBS Asset Management, where he was a global equities manager and led its global small caps team for four years. He has also worked for New Amsterdam Partners and UBS Phillips & Drew.

SAREF – Annemarie Maarse has been named as director for residential properties at asset manager Syntrus Achmea Real Estate & Finance (SAREF) as of 2019. She will be tasked with generating returns on the 28,000 units SAREF manages for its clients. She succeeds Peter Appeljan who is to retire.

Maarse is to report to Nicole Maarsen, head of property at SAREF, and joins from Altera Vastgoed, where she was head of asset management for residential real estate, managing €1.1bn worth of properties.