FRR names supervisory board chair
FRR, Franklin Templeton, Mercer, HSBC Global Asset Management, Veritas, AllianceBernstein, Arabesque S-Ray, Eumedion, De Nationale APF, ASR, PGB, Hermes, Netspar, Sampension, Rabobank, Kempen, UBS, Aegon, LOIM
Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR) – The €32.6bn French sovereign investor has a new chair of the supervisory board, with Sandrine Lemery having been appointed to the position by government decree. She was the first deputy secretary general of ACPR, the prudential authority for banks and insurers, from 2013 until the beginning of January 2019. She has also been a member of the management board and the board of supervisors of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).
Lemery takes over from Jean-Louis Beffa, who had been president of the board on an interim basis since November 2017.
Franklin Templeton – Paul Spencer, vice president, portfolio manager and research analyst in the Franklin UK equity team, has decided to retire on 30 September 2020 after 33 years in the financial industry and 14 years at Franklin Templeton. Leeds-based Spencer joined the firm in 2006 as a member of the UK small-mid cap (SMid) team. On 30 June 2020, he will step down from all portfolio management responsibilities, including the Franklin UK Mid Cap Fund, though he will remain engaged with the strategy for the remainder of his tenure at the firm.
Richard Bullas, vice president, portfolio manager and research analyst in the Franklin UK equity team, who currently serves as a portfolio manager of the fund, will assume lead portfolio manager responsibilities for the Franklin UK Mid Cap Fund effective 30 June 2020. He has 20 years of financial industry experience and joined the firm in January 2000 as a member of the UK SMid team.
Richard Bullas at Franklin Templeton
The Franklin UK equity team will continue to be led by Colin Morton, vice president and portfolio manager, a seasoned investment professional with 36 years of industry experience and the longest management tenure in the IA UK equity income sector. Under his leadership, the team of eight investment professionals will continue to follow the same long-standing and disciplined investment approach and work very closely together to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities.
Mercer – Malcolm Reynolds has been appointed UK head of pension administration at the consultancy, which is currently the UK’s largest administration provider. Reynolds has over 30 years’ experience in the pension industry, including the past 17 years at JLT where he most recently served as managing director of the pension administration business. Before that he was the chair of the defined contribution and health businesses. Before JLT, Reynolds was a director at PwC, responsible for leading its pension management consultancy business across Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM) – The asset manager has bolstered its thematic equities franchise with three strategic hires. This new investment team will develop thematic equities strategies, complementing LOIM’s existing range, including Golden Age and Global Prestige. The new strategies will invest in companies selected for their ability to provide solutions and tools addressing some of the most acute problems facing our world. The first new strategy, in global fintech, will be launched in Q1 2020.
Henk Grootveld at Lombard Odier Investment Managers
Henk Grootveld, who will lead the team, brings more than 20 years of experience and expertise in thematic investment. He joins from Robeco, where he was head of the trends investing equity team and most recently managed one of the firm’s flagship megatrends funds. He will be supported by Christian Vondenbusch and Jeroen van Oerle who also join from Robeco.
Vondenbusch is a highly experienced senior portfolio manager with a demonstrated track record in thematic investing with a clear specialization in financials and technology. He joined Robeco in 1999, having graduated from the University of Maastricht.
Van Oerle was portfolio manager of Robeco’s Global FinTech Equities fund since its inception and also worked as a financial trends analyst within the trends investing team since 2015. He joined Robeco in 2013. In his new role at LOIM, van Oerle will work closely with Vondenbusch and Grootveld to select those listed stocks, which may benefit from the increasing digitization of the financial sector and that will lower the cost of financial services.
The team starts on 1 February and will be based in Rotterdam, where LOIM plans to open an office. They report to Didier Rabattu, global head of equities at LOIM.
HSBC Global Asset Management – The firm has made three senior appointments to its global leadership team, reporting to Nicolas Moreau, global CEO.
Brian Heyworth has been appointed global head of institutional business, responsible for leading the strategic development of the firm’s institutional client business. Currently global head of client strategy at HSBC GAM, he joined in October 2006 as head of global markets sales for EMEA. In May 2011, he was appointed global co-head of the financial institutions group (FIG), global banking and markets, before becoming global head of FIG in April 2016.
Christophe de Backer has been appointed global head of wholesale business and partnerships. He will focus on growing and developing the firm’s wholesale client business, including delivering strategic distribution partnerships. He steps into this position with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of roles within asset management and is currently a director on the boards of HSBC GAM and HSBC Global Private Banking.
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