People Moves: British Steel Pension Scheme Appoints New Chairman [updated]

BSPS, ATP, Varma, EIOPA, ASR, DNB, GAM, Detailhandel, Edmond de Rothschild, ICG, MN, Amundi, Invesco, Fidante, Universal, Fitch, Söderberg

British Steel Pension Scheme – The £11.2bn (€13.1bn) pension fund for Tata Steel’s UK workers has appointed Keith Greenfield as its first independent chairman.

He took over on 1 April from Allan Johnston, who has served as a trustee since 1994 and has been chairman of the trustee board since 2007. Johnston will remain on the board as a trustee.

Under Johnston’s leadership, the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) successfully negotiated a “regulated apportionment agreement” with the Pensions Regulator and the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) in 2017, restructuring the scheme to keep the bulk of its membership out of the PPF.

Greenfield joined the BSPS trustee board last year after the restructuring. He is a former finance director for Royal Sun Alliance’s life insurance business, and has chaired the trustee boards of the Royal Insurance Group Pension Scheme and Pilkington Superannuation Scheme.

Greenfield said: “Allan has made a significant contribution over the period of his chairmanship. Allan’s foresight and leadership over the last 12 years were critical factors in being able to offer members the opportunity of switching to the new scheme as an alternative to entry into the PPF.

“Allan steps down as chairman with the scheme in good shape and I am pleased to say that I will be able to call on his knowledge and experience as he continues to serve as a company-nominated trustee director.”

ATP – Allan Mikkelsen has left ATP Real Estate, having been deputy head of the ATP subsidiary’s foreign investments. Following the arrival of Martin Vang Hansen as ATP Real Estate’s new chief executive at the beginning of this year, changes are taking place at the operation, which hopes to have a new CIO appointed before the summer.

Varma – Kari Jordan resigned as chairman of the supervisory board of Finnish pension fund Varma on 28 March, having been elected as a member of the board of directors for Nordic bank Nordea. Finnish law dictates that a supervisory board chair cannot also be a member of a bank’s board of directors. Varma’s supervisory board said it would elect a new chair at its next meeting on 16 May.

EIOPA – The supervisory board of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has elected Sergio Álvarez Camiña as a new member of the regulator’s management board. Camiña is currently director general for insurance and pensions funds at the Directorate General Insurance and Pensions Funds, within Spain’s Ministry of Economy and Business. Members of the management board serve a two-and-a-half-year term, which can be extended once.

ASR – Dutch pensions insurer ASR has proposed to reappoint Kick van der Pol as chairman of its supervisory board (RvC) for a two-year period. Van der Pol has chaired the RvC since 2008 and was due to step down in May. However, as the insurer hasn’t found a successor yet, he has agreed to carry on for a maximum of two years. Until recently, Van der Pol was chairman of the Dutch Pensions Federation.

Annet Aris is also to step down as an RvC member in May. ASR said it was in the process of selecting a successor as well as an additional member of the supervisory board.

DNB – Dutch supervisor De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has named Cindy van Oorschot as supervisory director for pension funds as of 1 May. She is to succeed Gisella van Vollenhoven, who is to return to the corporate sector, where she spent most of her career.

Van Oorschot is currently head of DNB’s expertise centre for intervention and enforcement, and has worked at the regulator since 2010. She has also been head of asset management at DNB’s department for financial markets, head of the expertise centre for asset and liability management, and head of international insurance groups.

GAM – The troubled Swiss asset manager has proposed three new board directors, subject to regulatory approval. Former Syz Asset Management CEO Katia Coudray, former group general counsel for Janus Henderson Jacqui Irvine, and ex-AIG CIO Monika Machon will all be proposed to shareholders at GAM’s annual general meeting on 8 May.

The three nominated members will replace Diego du Monceau , Ezra Field and Monica Mächler , who have decided not to stand for re-election. Hugh Scott-Barrett is standing for re-election as board chairman, with Benjamin Meuli, Nancy Mistretta and interim CEO David Jacob standing for re-election as members of the board of directors.

In December, GAM forecast a CHF925m (€825m) loss following heavy outflows, in particular from its fixed income products. CEO Alexander Friedman resigned in November as investors withdrew money and the company’s share price fell in the wake of the suspension of a senior fund manager.

Detailhandel – The €20.6bn Dutch sector scheme for the retail industry has appointed Lieske van den Bosch as a trustee and member of the scheme’s advisory committees for finance and risk, and communications. Van den Bosch runs her own HR firm and is also a board member at the €3.4bn closed pension fund for the furnishing sector (Wonen). She was previously HR manager at Dutch furniture chain Leen Bakker.

Fidelity International – The $379bn (€337.9bn) investment group has hired Andrew McCaffery to the newly created position of global CIO for alternatives and solutions. He will join in July and will be responsible for the development of Fidelity’s multi-asset, investment solutions design and real estate teams. 

McCaffery joins from Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) where he worked for eight years, latterly as global head of strategic client investments. He has also worked at BlueCrest Capital Management, Attica Alternative Investments, where he was CEO, and UBS.

Aberdeen Standard Investments – In response to McCaffery’s departure, ASI has promoted Robert McKillop to the newly created role of global head of product and client solutions.

The position will incorporate McKillop’s existing responsibilities for the group’s UK proposition, digital advice, product development and management along with “broader responsibility for solutions”, ASI said. The company has also created a new client solutions group, responsible for engaging with clients on “matters that impact their whole portfolio”.

Edmond de Rothschild – The private bank and asset manager has appointed Christophe Caspar as head of group asset management. He joined in November as deputy CEO after 17 years at Russell Investments, where he was global CIO. Caspar replaces Vincent Taupin, who has been appointed group CEO. In addition, Cynthia Tobiano, chief financial officer, has been named deputy CEO.

Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) – Zeina Bain has joined ICG as a managing director in its European subordinated debt and equity team. She will join in September from Carlyle Group, where she has worked for 18 years, most recently as a managing director in its European buyout team. In her new role, Bain will focus on sourcing opportunities for ICG’s European investment strategy, one of its largest franchises.

MN – The €135bn Dutch pensions provider and asset manager MN has appointed Jannie Minnema as director of IT as of 1 May. She replaces chief finance and risk officer Liesbeth Sinke, who left in February and was also responsible for IT. Minnema has worked for software firm Oracle for more than 20 years, including as director operations and business development strategy since 2015. 

In her new role she will be responsible for IT systems and platforms for asset management, pensions administration, communications, and the design and construction of new applications. Last month, Ralk Rikze started as director for pensions and insurance at MN, succeeding Henri den Boer.

Amundi – Europe’s largest asset manager has appointed Hamza Bahaji as head of engineering and solutions for indexing and smart beta, as part of an ambitious plan to double its assets under management in this area.

Bahaji was previously at Natixis Asset Management for 12 years in a variety of roles, particularly in quantitative investment. Most recently, he was head of engineering and quantitative research at Natixis subsidiary Seeyond.

Invesco – Colin Fitzgerald has been appointed head of EMEA distribution for the $946bn (€842bn) asset manager, a newly created role. He is responsible for the retail and institutional sales teams. He has worked at Invesco for four years as head of institutional sales for EMEA. Alex Millar, previously head of UK institutional and sovereigns, has been appointed to replace Fitzgerald in the EMEA institutional role. 

In addition, Ronnie Ahluwalia has been appointed head of key account management across EMEA and Esa Kalliopuska has been appointed chief operating officer for EMEA distribution.

Fidante Partners – PeterPaul Pardi has been named head of Fidante Partners for EMEA and North America. He was previously global head of distribution at BNY Mellon and has also worked for private equity firm Arcapita, as global head of institutional fund distribution, as well as holding senior executive positions at PIMCO, Lehman Brothers Investment Management and Barclays Global Investors.

Pardi will be responsible for growing Fidante’s business in Europe and North America by partnering with boutique asset management firms, the company said. Fidante forms distribution partnerships with boutique investors.

Universal-Investment – The German investment house has hired Christian Reitz as head of digital transformation. He previously held a similar role at Union Investment.

In his new role, Reitz is responsible for Universal’s digitisation strategy and “the implementation of new technologies, solutions and relevant services”, the company said. He will also seek to partner with financial and regulatory technology companies as part of the firm’s newly created emerging technology team.

Universal said the appointment was the “next logical step” in its long-term corporate strategy to reach €500bn in assets under management by 2023.

Fitch Ratings – Mervyn Tang has been named head of ESG research for the credit rating agency’s sustainable finance group. Based in Hong Kong, Tang will oversee a newly formed research team that will primarily focus on thematic and cross-sector ESG research using both internal and external datasets. Fitch said this research would complement the recently launched entity and sector level ESG research and analysis now being produced globally by Fitch’s credit rating analysts. 

Tang re-joined Fitch Ratings in March, having been at MSCI since 2017 where he was head of fixed income in their ESG research department. During his first period at Fitch, Tang was a director in its sovereign group in Asia-Pacific. He has also worked as an economist at the Bank of England and an equities analyst at Citigroup. 

Söderberg – Swedish pensions adviser and business insurer Söderberg & Partners has hired Roland Goldman, the former chief executive of risk manager Mandema & Partners, as director of mergers, acquisitions and franchise development. Goldman has been tasked with expanding Söderberg’s service provision in the Netherlands by attracting companies for partnerships, joint ventures and takeovers.

Söderberg entered the Dutch market in 2017 through a partnership with Floreijn, an adviser on employee benefits. Pensions adviser Montae has also joined the group.