People moves: Alecta appoints chief legal officer

Alecta – Anna Svensson has been appointed as chief legal officer at the Swedish occupational pension fund, it was announced on 6 July. Svensson, who has been legal counsel at Alecta since 2022, has also been acting chief legal officer at the SEK1.4trn (€127bn) pension fund since the sudden departure of Karin Cederbaum in April after two and a half years in the role.

Last week Cederbaum said in a post on LinkedIn that she was “starting to grow” the next step after her garden leave.

Aptia – Ian Burns has been hired as head of investment consulting as the firm continues to strengthen its range of strategic advisory services for pension scheme trustees and sponsors.

Burns brings more than 30 years of experience in pensions and investment consulting, having advised trustee boards and corporate clients throughout his career. A qualified actuary, he has held senior leadership positions across some of the UK’s largest professional services and employee benefits firms.

In his new role, Burns will lead Aptia’s investment consulting proposition, supporting our clients with investment strategy, governance and risk management.

Prior to joining Aptia, Burns was a principal in investment solutions at Gallagher, and before that, he served as regional market leader for the North at Mercer, leading the firm’s growth strategy across the region.

Tumelo – Jennifer Walmsley has joined Tumelo as head of stewardship solutions. She brings more than 20 years of experience across investment management, issuer engagement, regulation and consultancy.

Walmsley previously led the voting and engagement team at Hermes EOS and investor engagement at the Financial Reporting Council, which is responsible for the UK Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes.

As a consultant she has advised major asset owners and managers around the world on stewardship strategy, policy and implementation. She also brings an asset owner’s perspective as a member of the investment committee of the National Trust, the largest conservation charity in Europe.

In her new role, Walmsley will work directly with asset managers and asset owners as they transition to fully customised proxy-voting policies and research, using ProxyBeacon, Tumelo’s AI-powered stewardship platform. She will support clients to design their own voting policies, build tailored research reports, and embed the ProxyBeacon platform into their investment and stewardship processes.

Nordea Pension Denmark – Søren Thorius Mølhave Andresen has been appointed CEO of Nordea’s pensions business in Denmark, having worked for the bank for 27 years, including as head of integration management office in group finance for the last three years.

He will take over the top role at Nordea Pension Denmark from Vivian Byrholt, who started in 2018 as CEO of Topdanmark Liv, which was acquired at the end of 2022 by Nordea.

Byrholt said in a post on LinkedIn that with the firm’s 2030 strategy in place “and a strong organisation to take it forward, now is the right time for me to pass on the baton”.

Sampension – Helene Bløcher has been promoted to the role of executive director at the Danish labour-market pension provider, becoming half of the firm’s new two-person executive management team alongside the new CEO Mads Smith Hansen, who took over from Hasse Jørgensen in March.

Bløcher worked for Nordea for 15 years, most recently in the role of head of business banking Denmark, and will start her new job at Sampension on 1 September.

ZEDRA – Stuart Travers has been appointed as client director. Based in Bristol, he joined the firm in July.

Travers brings several years of experience in the pensions industry. Before joining ZEDRA, he was head of wealth strategy at Gallagher, following trustee director roles at IGG and Vidett, where he advised pension schemes on governance, strategy and trustee decision-making.

Nomura Asset Management (NAM) – Richard Hastings has been named client portfolio manager. He will report to Mari Nakamura, senior managing director, CEO Nomura Asset Management UK, and will be based in London.

In this role, Hastings will provide client portfolio management coverage for the firm’s global dynamic bond fund as well as broader NAM fixed income capabilities including corporate hybrid bonds, government fixed income, credit strategies, and the development and delivery of NAM’s interest rate-related solutions.

Hastings joins from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where he served as client portfolio manager for investment grade credit portfolios across the EMEA business for more than 12 years.

SWEN Capital Partners – The sustainable investment manager has appointed Alice Sireyjol as director of sustainable finance.

She joins from Amundi Asset Management, where she was deputy head of responsible investment development, and will become a member of SWEN CP’s executive committee, leading an 11-strong team responsible for the firm’s sustainable finance strategy and policy.

With a background in agronomy, Sireyjol has spent more than 15 years working with financial institutions and corporates on the design and implementation of their climate, biodiversity and sustainable transformation strategies. Recognised for her pioneering approaches to the strategic integration of environmental challenges, she has built her career at the intersection of the economic world and the life sciences.

William Blair Investment Management – Olga Bitel has been appointed as chief investment strategist, a newly established role.

Bitel will help shape the firm’s investment perspective across global markets and economies, drawing on its broad investment expertise to provide investors with insight into the forces influencing portfolio outcomes and long-term investment opportunities.

As chief investment strategist, Bitel will help shape and articulate William Blair’s investment perspectives on global economic conditions, monetary and fiscal policy, financial markets, public policy, and geopolitical developments. Working closely with investment teams across the firm, she will bring together expertise from across William Blair’s global investment platform, connecting insights across asset classes, strategies, and market themes into a cohesive investment viewpoint.

She will also engage regularly with clients and industry audiences to provide context on the developments shaping investment decisions and long-term portfolio outcomes.