De Nederlandsche Bank, M&G Investments, KPA Pension, Liquidnet, Actiam, Ernst & Young, AEW Europe

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) – The Dutch state has appointed Margot Scheltema as a member of the supervisory board of the regulator, effective 1 September. Scheltema, a lawyer, has served in several jobs, including CFO at energy giant Shell. In addition, she has worked in supervisory roles at financial institutions such as Triodos Bank, insurer ASR and civil service scheme ABP. She has held similar positions at Schiphol Airport, postal firm TNT Express and thermal energy company Warmtebedrijf Rotterdam. The DNB said Scheltema was familiar with corporate governance and behavioural codes and as such would be chair of the pension fund code monitoring committee. 

M&G InvestmentsBernard Abrahamsen has resigned as head of institutional distribution within M&G’s Fixed Income business, a position he has held for 13 years. Simon Pilcher, chief executive, and Jenny Williams, head of institutional public debt, will take on his responsibilities in the near term. M&G, which provided no reason for Abrahamsen’s departure, said it would update clients on further developments in due course.

KPA Pension – The Swedish pension fund has hired former financial markets minister Peter Norman’s deputy as its chief executive, following the announcement of Lars-Åke Vikberg’s departure. Erik Thedéen, who was state secretary in charge of state-owned companies and the AP fund system reform until Sweden’s 2014 general election, was hailed as a “powerful” personality by Jens Henriksson, KPA’s chairman and chief executive of parent company Folksam. He will take up his new role 13 April.

Liquidnet – The institutional trading network has appointed Chris Jackson as European head of Liquidnet’s Execution and Quantitative Services Group. He joins from Citi, where he was head of execution sales for the EMEA region. Before then, he spent 12 years at Merrill Lynch, where he was latterly head of sales across programme, transitions and electronic trading.

ActiamDennis van der Putten has started as head of ESG at asset manager Actiam, after leaving his job as investment support manager at pensions insurer Zwitserleven. He is to focus on guiding Actiam’s ESG team and integrating ESG into the company’s investment processes. Van der Putten has been working for Zwitserleven since 2010, initially as liaisons manager.

Ernst & YoungMartine Frijlink has been appointed as a partner at accountancy firm Ernst & Young in the Netherlands, where she is active in the Professional Practice Department, focusing on quality, risk and regulatory affairs. Her appointment is one of a series of recent hires as Michèle Hagers – chair of E&Y Accountants LLP – expands her Quality Assurance team. Prior to joining E&Y, Frijlink held a number of similar roles at KPMG.

AEW EuropeNikolas Koulouras and Alexander Strassburger have joined the private equity investment team as executive directors. Strassburger joins from The Carlyle Group, where he was country head of Germany. Koulouras joins from Salamanca Group, where he was director and co-head of real estate.