People moves: GIIN adds board member, UK regulator loses AE chief

GIIN, TPR, Money Advice Service, Invensys, ITS, Ircantec, EIOPA, Aon Hewitt, Salvus, First State, Axioma, GAM, iM Square

Global Impact Investing Network – GIIN, which supports and promotes impact investing by institutions across the world, has appointed Christine Bosse to its board. She is currently a board member of several companies, including financial giant Allianz and Nordic firms TDC, BankNordik, and TELE Greenland. She was previously CEO of Tryg, an insurance company.

Amit Bouri, CEO and co-founder of the GIIN, said: “Christine’s robust experience in the financial sector, her devotion to social and environmental causes, and her passion for innovation, growth, and sustainable businesses will make her a valuable addition to the GIIN’s board.”

In addition to corporate work, Bosse is chair of BØRNEfonden, an international aid group, and the Danish European Movement. In 2010, she was appointed an advocate for the UN’s Millennium Development Goals by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.

The Pensions Regulator/Money Advice Service – Charles Counsell, who leads the Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) auto-enrolment department, is to leave next month to take over as chief executive of the Money Advice Service in June. The Money Advice Service is a government-backed body that provides free financial guidance to individuals.

Counsell joined TPR in 2011 to lead its work on auto-enrolment. He was awarded an OBE for his work in this area earlier this year. More than half a million employers have now set up some form of pension arrangement, covering more than 7.5m people, under the government’s auto-enrolment initiative. Mark Boyle, TPR chairman, said the success of auto-enrolment was “in no small part due to Charles’ energy, vision, and drive”.

Counsell added: “So far more than 7.5m people have been given access to a workplace pension. These new savers are among many people who need support with their financial decisions and I relish the opportunity to help people get the guidance they need and to contribute to increasing financial capability in the UK.”

Invensys/Independent Trustee Services – ITS has appointed Invensys’ pension CEO Andy Smith as a client director. He will continue to lead the £5bn (€5.9bn) pension fund while taking on trustee roles on other schemes through ITS. He has led the Invensys scheme since 2012, and was previously chief financial officer at insurer Rothesay Life, following its acquisition of Paternoster – where he was also CFO – in 2011.He has also worked for Prudential in various roles, including leading its UK pension business.

Ircantec - Laetitia Tankwe has been appointed responsible investment adviser to Jean-Pierre Costes, president of the board of trustees of Ircantec, the €9.8bn French public sector pension scheme. She will start in June.  She replaces Éric Loiselet, who died at the age of 56 in October last year. Tankwe joins from Banque Populaire Méditerranée, where she was advisor to the chief executive. She joined the BPCE financial group in 2011. She previously worked at Bâtirente, a Canadian pension provider, as extra-financial risks manager, and has been involved in different working groups of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.

EIOPA – Úrsula Bordas has been appointed senior expert on consumer protection (pensions). She will join the supervisory authority next week, and will focus on cost transparency. She leaves PensionsEurope, the European pensions trade body, where she was senior policy adviser.

Aon Hewitt – Derry Pickford has been appointed to Aon Hewitt’s global asset allocation team as principal. He joins from Ashburton Investments, where he was co-head of asset allocation. He has also worked as chief economist at hedge fund Sloane Robinson, and as an economic analyst at Smithers & Co, an asset allocation consultancy.

Salvus Master Trust – The UK defined contribution provider has hired Russell Whitmore as head of strategic delivery, a newly created role. He will develop the company’s digital services. Whitmore joins from Now:Pensions where he was head of technical support.

First State Investments – First State has officially launched its high yield bond team, based in New York. It is led by Matt Philo, who joined the firm in May 2016. He was previously executive managing director and head of high yield at MacKay Shields. The high yield team also includes Michael Elkins and Jason Epstein, who joined from Avenue Capital and Oak Hill Advisors, respectively. The pair joined First State in September.

Axioma – Christopher Woida has joined the analytics firm as managing director for its index business. He will be responsible for or strategy, development and sales. Woida joins from BlackRock, where he was an investment strategist on its factor-investing hedge fund and a founding member of the group’s smart beta and factor investing arm. He also helped build BlackRock’s first smart beta exchange-traded fund.

GAM – Adam Brown will join the Swiss asset manager as global head of marketing on 3 July. He joins from Columbia Threadneedle Investments where he oversaw marketing for EMEA and Asia. He has also worked in marketing roles at Blackrock and Fidelity.

iM Square - Philippe Sénéchault has been appointed head of risk, information systems and compliance for Europe at iM Global Partner, iM Square Group’s distribution platform. His appointment means that iM Global Partner can set up UCITS funds regulated in France and delegate their management to foreign asset managers. This is possible under a new approach adopted under the auspices of a “FROG” working group of the French financial markets supervisor (AMF) and asset management association (AFG), as long as the French asset management company has appropriate risk control resources in place.  Sénéchault joined from Ellipis Asset Management, where he was most recently head of risk and information technology.