People moves: EIOPA nominates Damian Jaworski as exec director

European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) – EIOPA’s board of supervisors has decided to nominate Damian Jaworski for the role of executive director. He is expected to take up the position on 1 April 2026, upon confirmation by the European Parliament.

The appointment from among three shortlisted candidates – proposed to EIOPA’s board of supervisors by a dedicated selection committee – follows an open selection procedure in which candidates were assessed based on their managerial skills, professional experience and proven expertise relevant to EIOPA’s activities as a financial regulator and supervisor.

Fausto Parente has been executive director of EIOPA since 2016, having been reappointed for a second give year term in September 2020.   

Jaworski has a distinguished career with nearly 30 years of experience in financial regulation and supervision at national, European and international levels. Currently, he is director of international cooperation department at Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego (KNF), the Polish Financial Supervision Authority.

His appointment is subject to confirmation by the European Parliament.

Blackstone – Michele Rabà will join the firm in April 2026 as head of European corporate private equity.

In this role, Rabà will oversee Blackstone’s corporate private equity activities in Europe, where it invests through its flagship private equity strategy, Blackstone Capital Partners, and its long-dated private equity strategy, Blackstone Core Equity Partners. Blackstone has been active in Europe for over 25 years.

Rabà will assume the role held by Lionel Assant since 2012. Assant was recently promoted to global co-CIO of Blackstone where he works across the broader Blackstone private equity platform to shape investment decision-making and strategies. Blackstone’s other private equity activities in Europe, including tactical opportunities and growth, will continue to be led by Qasim Abbas and Paul Morrissey, respectively.

Rabà was previously lead partner, European private equity, at Apollo, which he joined in 2010.

Future Growth Capital (FGC) – The independent private markets solutions business formed by Phoenix Group and Schroders has strengthened its investment team with the appointment of Max Gilbert as infrastructure director.

Gilbert brings eight years of experience in the infrastructure debt market, having originated and executed transactions across a broad range of sectors including renewable energy, transmission and social housing. He joins from Gravis Capital Management where he was an investment director advising FTSE 250 listed company GCP Infrastructure Investment Limited as co-fund manager.#

In this newly created role, Gilbert will be responsible for originating and executing infrastructure deals in line with the risk and return profile of FGC’s multi-private asset UK strategy. He will report to Mike Chappell, head of origination.

European Association of Paritarian Institutions (AEIP) – Matthies Verstegen has been appointed vice president of AEIP.

Verstegen is also head of the Brussels office of the Pensioenfederatie, the branch organisation of Dutch pension funds.

AEIP’s appointment, which was made last summer, coincides with the recent decision of Pensioenfederatie to cancel its membership with PensionsEurope.

Pensions UK – Sarah Sim has been hired as executive director of membership and commercial services at Pensions UK.

Sim brings three decades of experience in business development, commercial strategy and global membership leadership working for membership bodies, learned societies and profit-for-purpose organisations.

She was most recently on the executive leadership team at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) and, earlier in her career, was a director at ACCA, the professional accountancy body.

At Pensions UK, Sim is responsible for evolving the member experience, growing and diversifying income, and helping lead the organisation to deliver the Pensions UK 2030 Ready Strategy. She started her new role on 3 September and sits on both the board and executive leadership team.

Achmea Investment Management – The firm has appointed Ben van den Berg as head of manager selection and monitoring.

Van den Berg joins from SAMCo, the now-defunct in-house asset manager of the Shell pension funds, where he worked as chief investment officer since 2021.

According to Maureen Schlejen, chair of Achema IM’s executive board, “Bert’s collaborative style and proven leadership in transformation processes fit seamlessly with Achmea IM’s ambitions.”

Athora – Ruud van Doorn is the new head of buyouts at Athora. He succeeds Lennaert van Anken, who announced a switch to competitor Achmea earlier this month.

Van Doorn has been working at Athora since May 2024 as director of pension risk transfer, joining from insurer Aegon.

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