People moves: NBIM names new chief risk officer

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) – Patrick du Plessis has been appointed as the new chief risk officer at NBIM, the manager of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the Government Pension Fund Global. He is replacing Dag Huse, who held the role for 11 years until last November, at which point he left the leader group and became principal adviser on matters related to geopolitical risk and policy at NBIM instead. 

Du Plessis, who has worked at NBIM since 2001, was most recently the organisation’s global head of risk monitoring. He became chief risk officer on 1 April.

Smart Pensions – James Lawrence has been promoted to chief investment officer, where he will be responsible for designing and running the investment strategy of the £9bn (€10bn) Smart master trust. This includes building innovative solutions with investment manager partners, harnessing Smart’s technology capabilities, and transitioning invesments to net zero by 2040. 

Lawrence has already spent five years with Smart Pension, two as the director of investment proposition and three as the head of investment proposition.

JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) – The US asset manager has appointed Miles Courage as head of private markets EMEA and global head of product for private markets, effective immediately. The creation of the role is part of JPMAM’s ongoing global expansion in alternatives, it said. 

Courage, who was most recently chief operating officer and head of product development for JPMAM’s global special situations business, will report to Jed Laskowitz, global head of private markets and customised solutions at JPMAM.

Santander Alternative Investments (SAI) – Santander’s alternative asset manager has appointed Damien Granger to lead its investment activity in asset-based finance. Granger has more than 15 years’ experience in asset finance and structured finance, mostly at Société Générale. In 2021 he joined Flexam – Kartesia Asset Finance as head of the investment team.

His appointment comes as SAI prepares the first close of an asset-based finance fund targeting commitments of between €400m and €500m. Commitments exceeding €150m from institutional investors are expected, including insurance companies, the European Investment Fund, and Banco Santander itself.

Generali Asset Management  – The firm’s nomination committee has proposed that Russell Büsst be appointed as incoming chief executive officer. Filippo Casagrande  is due to be appointed as general manager, a newly created role aimed at further strengthening the firm’s executive leadership structure. 

Generali has said the proposed organisational changes and appointments aim to further strengthen the company’s focus on global third-party institutional and pension clients.

Büsst currently serves as CEO and chief investment officer for the European operations of Conning, part of Generali Investments. Casagrande is chief of investments of Generali Investments and, since March 2025, also serves as chair of Generali Investments Luxembourg. 

Both proposals are subject to customary approval processes and will become effective upon the conclusion of the current CEO’s mandate, Bruno Servant, at the end of April 2026. 

H.I.G. Capital – The alternative investment firm has announced that Brian Schwartz, a longstanding member of H.I.G.’s leadership team and the firm’s co-president, has been appointed CEO. He succeeds co-founder Sami Mnaymneh, who will transition to executive chairman alongside fellow co-founder Tony Tamer.

In addition, Doug Berman, head of US private equity, has been promoted to co-president, serving alongside current co-president Rick Rosen.