Russell Investments, Principal Global Investors, Liongate Capital Management, Cardano, Mercer, Veritas Asset Management, UBS Asset Management, Willis Towers Watson, Actuarial Association of Europe, BlackRock, Stamford, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, AIMA, Pension Protection Fund, Société Générale Securities Services

Russell Investments – Pascal Duval, chief executive for the EMEA region, has resigned from the asset manager after two decades of service. A successor has not yet been appointed. Duval’s move comes after Russell Investments was sold to private equity firm TA Associates last year. Duval said: “Now that we have come through a period of ownership uncertainty and the firm is entering into a new and exciting phase of its evolution, the time is right for me to start a new personal chapter.” 

Principal Global Investors – Tim Stumpff has been appointed chief executive, replacing Nick Lyster, who has been appointed to the newly created role of global head of wealth advisory services. Stumpff joined Principal Financial Group in 200, and has most recently served as president of Liongate Capital Management. Lyster, who served as chief executive from 2006 to 2016, will be responsible for delivering Principal’s investment capabilities to global wealth management firms, with a focus on the Dublin-domiciled UCITS range of funds.

Cardano – Pim van Diepen will join Cardano as director of business development as of 1 November 2016. He joins from Mercer, where he worked for 12 years, including as head of the ALM Netherlands team and was business leader of Mercer Retirement in the Netherlands. Van Diepen is a member of the Dutch Actuarial Association, participating in the risk management networking group. 

Veritas Asset Management – Ian Barnes, former head of UBS Asset Management for Ireland and the UK, has been appointed to the newly created position of chief executive of £12bn (€14bn) Veritas Asset Management. He will join in early 2017, becoming part of the managing partners board that already comprises Charles Richardson, Andy Headley, Ezra Sun and Richard Grant. Barnes had been head of asset management at UBS for UK and Ireland since 2012. Before that, he was at Russell Investments, where his initial role as senior investment consultant evolved into a focus on fiduciary management. Veritas Asset Management became a distinct limited liability partnership as part of a corporate reorganisation in 2012.

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) – Alfred Gohdes, chief actuary for pensions consulting for the consultancy’s German business, will be retiring from WTW at the end of February 2017. A well-known figure in the industry, Gohdes has been at WTW and its predecessors for about 35 years.  

Actuarial Association of Europe (AAE) Kristoffer Bork has been elected chairman of the AAE for the year to September 2017. A Danish national, Bork was president of the Danish actuarial association, Den Danske Aktuarforening, from 2010 to 2016. Bork succeeds Philip Shier, who became the actuarial manager of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland after retiring from Aon HewittThomas Béhar was elected AAE vice-chair for the coming year. From France, Béhar is group chief actuary at insurer CNP Assurances

BlackRock – Alexandra Haggard joined as head of consultant relations for the EMEA. She is the former chief executive at Stamford and before that was a managing director at Russell Investments. She will manage BlackRock’s 30-strong EMEA consultant relations team. Haggard is also chair of the CFA UK Steering Committee 2017 Ethical Leadership Programme and a Steering Committee member of the CFA Diversity Project.

Greater Manchester Pension Fund – Sandra Stewart has taken over from Peter Morris as executive director of pensions following the latter’s retirement. Stewart has been solicitor to the £17bn (€21bn) local authority fund for more than 15 years, and added the role of director of pensions to her role as executive director in charge of governance and resources. Morris retired after 40 years in local government in the UK. The changes were effective in May. 

Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) – Simon Lorne is taking over as chairman of the trade body, replacing former SEC commissioner Kathleen Casey. Lorne is vice-chairman and chief legal officer at Millennium Management. Lorne is a member of the new council, AIMA’s global board of directors, which also counts four new members: Robyn Grew, chief administrative officer and general counsel at Man Group; Han Ming Ho, partner at Sidley Austin; Ryan Taylor, partner and global head of compliance at Brevan Howard Asset Management; and Michael Weinberg, senior managing director and chief investment strategist at Protégé Partners.

UK Pension Protection Fund (PPF) – The UK lifeboat fund’s operational due diligence manager, Kevin Eastwood, has been granted chartered status by the US Investment Management Due Diligence Association (IMDDA). He is said to be the first person outside the US to have done so. The IMDDA is the US professional body for individuals and companies that are tasked with due diligence in the investment management industry. 

Société Générale Securities Services – Massimiliano Notarianni has been appointed global head of sub-custody network management. Mathilde Guérin, whom he replaced, has become deputy head of product engineering. Notarianni was previously head of provider monitoring and change. Both are based in Paris.