People moves: PGGM appoints chief transformation officer

PGGM – Ernst Jansen has been appointed as chief transformation officer (CTO) at PGGM Investment Management. He will start on 1 September 2026 and will then join the statutory board of PGGM Investment Management.

Jansen has worked for more than 20 years at Van Lanschot Kempen, where he has been chief operating officer and statutory director since 2020. At PGGM, he succeeds Erik van de Brake, who held this position from 1 April 2022 to 1 May 2026.

As CTO, Jansen will be responsible for, among other things, the digital transformation of PGGM Investment Management and the operational and administrative management of the invested assets, including the necessary IT support.

Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) – The association has elected Chintan Gandhi as its new chair. A partner at Aon, he takes office on 1 June 2026, succeeding Isio’s Stewart Hastie.

In setting out his priorities for his two-year term as ACA chair, Gandhi said: “I couldn’t have picked a more interesting time to take on this role, given the sheer pace at which new regulations have been developed in recent years, including the recently introduced Pensions Schemes Act 2026 and the ongoing valuable work of the Pensions Commission.”

Fondoposte – The Italian pension fund for postal workers has elected Stefano Giuliani, representing member companies, as the new president.

Giuliani succeeds Antonio Nervi, who was elected last October after the sudden passing of Antonio Nardacci, chair of Fondoposte for almost eight and a half years.

Vito Romaniello, representing workers, was confirmed as vice president. The pension fund has also elected new members of its board of directors, which will serve for the three-year term 2026–2028.

New World Group (NWG) – The London-headquartered principal investment and holding group founded and led by Adam Sadiq, has appointed Arno Kitts as non-executive chair of the group, following his period serving as interim chair.

The appointment reflects the next phase of NWG’s strategic evolution into a long-term principal investment platform focused on strategic ownership across institutional real assets, financial infrastructure and cross-border operating platforms spanning Europe, the Middle East and Asia. NWG is currently evaluating several long-term strategic initiatives, ownership opportunities and cross-border expansion projects aligned with its broader vision of building a globally connected principal investment platform.

Kitts has more than three decades of experience across global investment management and institutional financial markets. He previously served as managing director and head of the BlackRock UK institutional business, and as CEO of the BlackRock Life platform. Prior to this, he held senior leadership roles at Henderson Global Investors and JP Morgan.

Aberdeen Investments – Herman Bots has been named global head of the firm’s equities franchise, which has £46bn assets under management and more than 100 investors.

Bots joins after 17 years at APG in the Netherlands, most recently as managing director of equities. Between 2011-2022, he was responsible for active developed market equities, during which time 80% of portfolios outperformed their benchmark. In 2022 he moved to New York to establish new investment teams and in 2023 he became managing director of global equities.

Bots brings a strong background in equity research, talent management and investment process, having begun his career as an energy specialist. He will report to Aberdeen’s CIO, Peter Branner and will be based in London.

Devan Kaloo, who Bots replaces, will now focus on running emerging markets portfolios, where he began his career at Aberdeen 26 years ago. He also wants to start spending more time pursuing other interests outside work, the firm stated.

Separately, Shelley Morrison has been appointed as head of private credit and fund finance. She succeeds Marianne Zangerl, who has been promoted to lead multi-asset and alternative investment solutions within Aberdeen.

Morrison brings over 21 years of experience in private credit and structured finance. She will oversee fund finance, commercial real estate lending, infrastructure debt, private corporate debt and emerging market private credit. The 20-strong team of professionals have originated over 300 transactions and deployed approximately £15bn of capital since inception.

Financial Market Authority (FMA) – Martina Andexlinger has taken over the insurance, pension and provident fund supervisory division of the Austrian FMA.

Andexlinger succeeds Peter Braumüller, who is retiring after serving at FMA for more than two decades. She has held leadership positions at the supervisory authority for years, most recently within the integrated supervisory areas of Conduct and Anti-Money Laundering.

Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) – Calum Cooper, partner and head of pension policy innovation at Hymans Robertson, has been elected as the Society’s next president.

Cooper’s two-year term will begin on 1 June 2026, succeeding Sophia Singleton, partner and head of DC at XPS Group, who has held the role since 1 June 2024.

Under Singleton’s stewardship, the SPP has continued to grow both its reach and influence.The SPP proved instrumental in ensuring the Pension Protection Fund’s admin levy was abolished and was central to helping ensure flexibility around the general levy was included in the Pension Schemes Act.

Cooper will seek to protect and build on the strong foundations Singleton has laid by ensuring the SPP continues to collaborate effectively, delivers meaningful and positive impact, and makes sure that industry voices are heard when it matters.

Rathbones – The British wealth and asset management group has established a Responsible Investment Centre of Excellence to help deliver strong long-term value for clients across sustainability research, stewardship and ESG integration. Kate Elliot will lead the centre in addition to retaining her leadership role in the ethical and sustainable research team. She joined the Rathbones Group in 2007.

“Bringing our ethical and sustainable research experts together with our stewardship and ESG integration capabilities together in one coordinated Centre strengthens how we share insight, prioritise engagement and support investment teams across the Group,” she said.

At the heart of the Centre of Excellence is a team of 16 dedicated specialists, structured across three complementary disciplines: voting, stewardship and engagement; ethical and sustainable research; and ESG integration.