The UK’s Pension Protection Fund (PPF) announced two senior appointments this week: a head of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and a new chief risk officer (CRO).

Stephen Wilcox is the £29bn (€33bn) fund’s CRO, replacing Hans den Boer, who had worked at the PPF for three years.

Wilcox joined the PPF from Allianz Insurance, where he was chief risk officer. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and a chartered enterprise risk actuary.

Oliver Morley, chief executive of the PPF, said: “We can only continue to properly serve our members and levy-payers by appropriately managing the risks we face. As the PPF continues to grow and evolve, identifying and managing those risks will only become more important. Stephen’s proven expertise and leadership will ensure we remain committed to best practice in risk management.”

Meanwhile, Claire Curtin has taken on the ESG role. She joined the PPF from consultancy Trucost – now part of S&P Dow Jones Indices – where she was head of research, financial institutions. Before that she was a client relationship manager at EIRIS and head of investment communications for single manager hedge funds at Pioneer Alternative Investments.

The PPF’s previous most senior dedicated ESG hire, Leanne Clements, left in the autumn of 2016. Her appointment followed the death in 2015 of Ebba Schmidt, who implemented and led the PPF’s responsible investment strategy after joining the institution in 2009.

claire curtin

Claire Curtin, the PPF’s new head of ESG

PPF chief investment officer Barry Kenneth said: “Claire’s experience of working and communicating with institutional investors across a wide range of asset classes as well as a deep technical understanding of ESG issues will help grow and evolve our investment function.

“Attracting professionals of Claire’s calibre to join our team is an endorsement of where we are going.”

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