Brunel Pension Partnership, GAM Holding, NEST, IBM Germany, European Association of Paritarian Institutions, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Insight Investment, Pension Scams Industry Group 

Brunel Pension Partnership – The local authority pension fund asset pooling company has launched the search for a new CEO following Dawn Turner’s resignation. Brunel has pitched the position as ”an exciting opportunity to lead a unique investment management organisation that is seeking to establish best practice in areas such as responsible investment, investment risk management, private market investing, cost efficiency and transparency”.

The closing date for applications is 9 September, with interviews likely to take place on 1 and 2 October. Brunel’s clients and owners are 10 local government pension scheme funds with around £30bn (€33bn) in assets between them.

GAM Holding AG – The Swiss asset manager has appointed Peter Sanderson as group CEO as it seeks to return to growth after losing nearly CHF30bn (€27bn) in assets in the aftermath of the suspension and eventual dismissal of Tim Haywood, head of the absolute return bond (ARBF) team.

Sanderson joins from BlackRock, which he joined in 2006 and where he has variously served as head of financial services consulting, co-head of multi-asset investment solutions and chief operating officer for BlackRock Solutions, all in the EMEA region. Before joining BlackRock he worked for Mondrian Investment Partners and KPMG. 

David Jacob, member of the board of directors and current interim CEO, will succeed Hugh Scott-Barrett as chair, effective 1 October. Scott-Barrett will remain a member of the board until GAM’s AGM in 2020. 

Scott-Barrett said: “Today’s announced leadership changes follow the successful completion of the ARBF liquidation and fully allow us to turn our attention to the future, while providing a seamless transition over the next couple of months.” 

GAM this week announced that it had agreed with Haywood that “neither party will pursue the other based on current facts”. Haywood disputed his dismissal, according to multiple reports.

European Association of Paritarian Institutions (AEIP) – Philip Neyt has been appointed president of the AEIP until June 2021, replacing Michel Dieu of CTIP, which represents France’s 34 “provident institutions”. The moves are in accordance with the AEIP presidency’s rotating system. Neyt is chair of PensioPlus, Belgium’s occupational pension fund association. 

NEST – Karen Cham, professor of digital transformation design at the University of Brighton, has been appointed to the auto-enrolment provider’s board by the secretary of state for work and pensions Amber Rudd. Jill Youds and Otto Thoresen have been reappointed to the board while Iraj Amiri, Graham Berville, Sally Bridgeland and Caroline Rookes stepped down from the board on 30 June following the conclusion of their terms.

Thoresen said: “At NEST we value fresh ideas and new perspectives – this is why our board is made up of members with broad experiences and skills. How technology can help communicate and engage with our members is a key focus for the board, and Karen’s experience will be invaluable in this.”

IBM Germany – Hans Ohlrogge, chair of the IT company’s Pensionskasse and Pensionsfonds, will retire at the end of August. He became a member of the board of the Pensionskasse in 2000 and its head in 2009, and has led the Pensionsfonds since 2010. He has also been a member of the investment advisory boards of various European IBM pension funds.

Walter Reck will replace him as the new head of IBM Germany Retirement Funds, with Carmen Scheck, controlling manager at the €1.6bn Pensionskasse, joining the board to replace Reck as CFO.

Columbia Threadneedle Investments – Stuart Jarvis has been hired as senior research director, a position within the asset manager’s global investment solutions team. 

Most recently Jarvis was a managing director in the portfolio research group within the BlackRock Investment Institute, and previously helped set up the group’s liability-driven investment business. Before joining BlackRock in 2004 Jarvis was a pensions consultant at Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow, now Aon Hewitt.

Insight Investment – The fixed income specialist has made five new appointments to its client solutions group. The new hires include three solution designers: Callum Duffy from KPMG, Emily Tann from Hymans Robertson and Phil Spencer from Legal & General Investment Management.

Two additional appointments are Blanca Koenig from DWS Group, who has been appointed as a client director, and Lauren Colfer, who has joined from BNY Mellon as a client service specialist. The asset manager has also appointed Charmaine Ooi, formerly of Cardano, as senior quantitative analyst.

The Pension Scams Industry Group (PSIG) – Tom Burns, risk and incident manager at Standard Life, has been appointed deputy chair of the industry group, effective as of yesterday. He has been part of PSIG since its inception in 2014 and is chair of the organisation’s Pension Scams Industry Forum. 

Topics