Werner Hoyer (pictured), current president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), has been named head of the European Association of Long Term Investors (ELTI) following the association’s inaugural general assembly.

The ELTI, launched in June, said it aimed to promote long-term investment across the Continent and encourage academic research on the subject.

Its 17 founding members, including the EIB, include central banks of some European Union member states, as well as development banks, such as Germany’s KFW and the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB).

Hoyer said he was “honoured and happy” to act as a link between the work for EU banks and those supporting EU policy.

“The ELTI association is a genuine European project,” he added. “Following the EIB capital increase, it is yet another way to multiply our mutual leverage effect in federating the financial strength of our institutions for growth and employment through long-term investment.”

The general assembly also saw the association’s first action plan for 2014-20 agreed, with its goal to foster “sustainable, resource efficient, socially inclusive and innovative” growth and employment.

Alongside Hoyer, Anton Kovacev and Franco Bassanini were named vice-presidents.

Kovacev is chairman of the board at the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) and Bassanini president of Italy’s CFP.