Candriam, AXA IM, Eurosif, IGG, TPT, Investec, Broadstone, Osmosis
Plumbing Pension Scheme – The UK-based £1.2bn pension fund is seeking to appoint a chief executive officer for the trustee and administration companies of the pension fund.
Kate Yates, the current scheme CEO, confirmed in a LinkedIn post that she will soon be leaving after more than eight years with the fund to take up a new role at Lloyds Banking Group.
The new CEO is expected to work with a range of stakeholders to develop and implement strategies for the scheme, a job advert on the scheme’s website stated. The recruit “will have a good technical knowledge of running a complex DB [defined benefit] scheme and will lead, inspire and motivate the in-house team whilst working with its professional advisors”, it added.
This leadership position, the advert continued, demands a commitment to “ensuring the scheme’s compliance, management, and robust governance objectives and candidates will have experience of communicating, collaborating, influencing and seeking compromise with multiple stakeholders to agree and implement strategic decisions”.
Independent Governance Group (IGG) – The group has welcomed 12 new joiners over the course of December and January as it wraps up a successful 12 months for recruitment for the business.
The new joiners include trustee director Mark Engelbretson, who joins IGG from Network Rail where he spent seven years as director of pensions, including a period as trustee director of Railpen. He is joined by new associate director Susan Barber who returns to IGG after a number of years spent as a senior trust officer at ITS, with more than 20 years of experience in pensions.
Trustee manager Katherine Kitt joins IGG after having spent time in a number of in-house pensions managerial roles. Senior associate Eleanor Rowe joins alongside associate Andrew Davy and assistant associates James Lee and Sylvia Okolie.
In addition to this, IGG also welcomes five professionals to their business services teams who will be providing invaluable central support services.
IGG has welcomed more than 60 new joiners since it was incorporated in February 2023, following the launch of its Manchester office, as well as the acquisition of Edinburgh-based IC Select.
Broadstone – Deon Dreyer has joined the firm’s consulting and actuarial division as an investment director in the investment consulting team in London.
Dreyer most recently headed up Ortec Finance’s UK and climate and ESG business where he drove the transition of its climate and ESG solution to a mature offering. Prior to that he led investment consulting businesses at PwC and Quantum Advisory, and has also worked at Aon, Barclays and Insight Investment.
In his new role at Broadstone, Dreyer will support new and existing clients with his specialist ESG capabilities as the area continues to grow in importance and complexity. This will include Broadstone’s new carbon footprint proposition which will help businesses assess, monitor and set strategies for reducing their carbon emissions over time.
Candriam – The global multi-asset manager has announced strategic roles and leadership changes within its thematic global equity team, emphasising its commitment to best-in-class healthcare investing expertise.
Rudi Van den Eynde, head of thematic global equity is preparing for his retirement in Q1 2025 and in anticipation of this transition, Johan Van der Biest, deputy head of thematic global equity, will serve as co-head alongside Van den Eynde.
Following Van den Eynde’s retirement, Van der Biest will assume the role of head of thematic global equity. Van der Biest’s 25-year tenure at Candriam has been marked by his significant contributions to the growth and innovation of the firm’s thematic platform.
Van der Biest will lead a team of 21 investment professionals, aiming to grow Candriam’s thematic offering in line with clients’ needs and leveraging the expertise of its seasoned experts. There will be no changes to his fund management responsibilities. He will not be replaced as deputy head of thematic global equity.
Another two appointments have been made: Servaas Michielssens joins as head of healthcare based in Brussels, returning to Candriam after a 16-month tenure at a private equity firm; and Linden Thomson was appointed as senior fund manager to lead Candriam’s biotechnology and oncology strategies based in London, joining from AXA Investment Managers where she led the firm’s biotech strategy and served as head of the healthcare franchise.
TPT Retirement Solutions – The workplace pension scheme, with more than 450,000 members, has hired Marc Cox as a consultant relationship manager.
In his new role, Cox will focus on developing TPT’s proposition to market. A key part of his remit will involve identifying and establishing contact with employee benefit consultants, particularly the fiduciary management oversight teams.
Beyond this, he will manage opportunities from request for proposals and pitches, through the sales process through to on-boarding new clients, while ensuring broader personal activities, leads and new business sales targets are met for TPT’s target ‘direct-to-scheme’ market.
Cox will also work closely with the wider business development team to contribute to a wider strategic approach for the company’s sales process; helping to create, and implement a strong, updated business pipeline.
Cox brings more than 15 years of experience in various financial business development roles, establishing the sales strategies of equity, fixed income and multi asset products. Before joining TPT, he most recently served as head of investor relations for Mayar Capital, a role he held for over five years.
AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) – Nicolas Deschamps has been appointed as global head of product and client strategy at AXA IM Core.
Based in Paris, Deschamps reports to Hans Stoter, global head of AXA IM Core and member of the AXA IM’s management board.
Deschamps joined AXA IM in 2005 as senior sales manager for wholesale clients. Since then, he held various positions in the company as well as at AXA France, where he was heading the development of the life and wealth management business, and at AXA IM Select as global head of client group.In his new role, Deschamps heads the product strategy and development for core investments, the global marketing and the investment specialists team. The AXA IM Investment Institute also falls within his remit.
Additionally, Jane Wadia is appointed head of sustainability, core products and clients and will be responsible for leading AXA IM Core’s sustainable product strategy and external representation. Based in London, she reports to Deschamps.
In this newly-created role, Wadia engages with clients on sustainability topics and works with teams across AXA IM to ensure that AXA IM Core’s investment capabilities reflect clients responsible investment’s (RI) needs. She is also responsible for defining the RI product framework and is a key stakeholder in shaping the overall RI priorities for the AXA IM Core business.
Osmosis Investment Management – Stefanie Drews, president of Nikko Asset Management, and Sandra Robertson, chief investment officer and CEO of Oxford University Endowment Management (OUem), have been appointed to Osmosis’s board of directors.
Osmosis believes these changes will bring a wealth of industry experience and diverse new perspectives into the boardroom, supporting the company as its growth continues to accelerate. The firm’s assets under management recently surpassed $15bn, an annual increase of almost 70%.
These appointments follow the announcement of last month’s corporate action, which saw Nikko AM take a minority stake in Osmosis in a deal that included exclusive distribution rights of Osmosis’s products in the Asia region. The Oxford Endowment Fund, managed by OUem, was the first institutional external investor in Osmosis and has held an equity interest since 2012.
Investec Alternative Investment Management (IAIM) – The European asset manager has appointed Alicia Forry as head of ESG, alternative investments.
IAIM is an alternative investment platform focused on private market credit strategies. It leverages the origination and proprietary deal flow capabilities of Investec’s direct lending team to deliver private market investment solutions for investors.
With almost seven years of experience at Investec, Forry brings a wealth of knowledge from her time in Investec’s equity research team as head of UK equity ESG products, leading cross-sector ESG research on UK listed companies. She is also a member of Investec’s sustainable business forum, which was set up to help co-ordinate efforts across the organisation to support clients in the transition to a net zero economy. Across both roles, she has leveraged her ESG expertise to help more than 1,500 corporates and investors.
As part of her new role, Forry will help to embed further a responsible investing framework and series of processes across Investec’s private market credit strategies.
Eurosif – The European sustainable investment body has announced the appointment of Rachel Owens and Nathalie Dogniez as independent directors, bringing the number of these directors to three following the appointment of Matt Christensen in September 2023, and the board composition to a total of eight members.
Owens is currently the director of climate finance at the European Climate Foundation, a philanthropic organisation working to tackle the climate crisis. Dogniez is an independent director, sitting on the boards of funds, fund managers, and non-profit organisations.
Eurosif chair Will Oulton said Owens’ and Dogniez’ skills and experience would be very valuable to the organisation as “we enter a period of significant activity which includes the review of SFDR [Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation] and the upcoming EU elections”.
“These additions complete the restructure of the Eurosif board which was a strategic objective for the organisation,” Oulton added.
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