With thanks to Miriam Heale, Allen & York, www.allen-york.com

Appointment of month

Sustainability rating agency Inrate has appointed Philipp Leu as its new chief executive, effective 1 January. Leu was previously head of financial reporting at SIX Swiss Exchange, where he was responsible for monitoring and enforcing the financial reporting of issuers listed on the exchange.

After graduating, Leu worked as an auditor and consultant. “Both jobs gave me a thorough understanding of corporate reporting,” he explains. In 2003, he joined SIX Swiss Exchange, where his task was to improve reporting to investors. “There I experienced a shift from the focus on financial statements towards governance and sustainability aspects and I wanted to be on the forefront of this development,” he says. “Being fascinated by the reputation of Inrate and their longstanding experience as a sustainability rating agency, I was proud to become their new CEO.” His new “mission” will be to emphasise Inrate's role in translating complex sustainability issues into useful investment advice.

“I made my first money by interviewing people for a market research firm,” says Leu. “It was basically convincing strangers that by committing to the interview they might be able to change things for the better.

“Once again I am convincing people. This time on sustainable investments, in order to change things for the better.”

 


 

Motoko Aizawa has joined the Climate Bond Initiative as senior fellow. An internationally recognised expert on standard setting in the environmental, social and governance dimensions of sustainability, Aizawa is the former head of the policy and standards unit in the Environment and Social Development Department of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

She began her career as an international mergers and acquisitions lawyer, “learning the importance of comprehensive due diligence”. After moving to IFC, Aizawa worked on project finance, where she gained expertise in environmental and social due diligence, and in policy and standard setting. “That led to working with a group of banks to create the Equator Principles in 2003,” she says. “Following IFC’s adoption of the 2006 Performance Standards, which I drafted and negotiated, I worked with numerous financial institutions, governmental agencies and companies, seeking to adopt the Performance Standards.”

Aizawa is currently US managing director for the Institute for Human Rights and Business, focusing on the human rights dimensions of corporate activities. She is also a commissioner of the Washington DC Commission on Human Rights. In her new role she will be helping the Climate Bonds Initiative standardise green bonds, “so that more capital is mobilised toward addressing climate change”.
 

 

Dave Armon has joined the board of directors at 3BL Media, a US-based news and content distribution company focused on corporate social responsibility, sustainability and related topics. Armon has spent his career in news and content distribution, including as COO and president of PR Newswire. He is currently CEO of Brand.com.

James Georgalakis will be joining the new Strategic Leadership Group at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) as the director of communications and impact. He was formerly the IDS’s head of communications.

 

J Safra Sarasin, the Swiss bank that specialises in sustainable investing, has named Sharon Valdettaro as head of corporate communication and marketing. She joins from Swiss pharmaceuticals firm Roche, where she was a communications manager.

 

The New York Stock Exchange has announced that Stacey Cunningham is now president of NYSE Governance Services, a provider of corporate governance, risk, ethics and compliance services for public and privately held companies. Cunningham was formerly head of sales and relationship management for NYSE Group.

 

Jupiter has changed the structure of its environmental and sustainable strategy team. The re-organisation sees more focused roles and new job titles for sustainability analysts Mark Evans and Jon Wallace. Evans will become sustainability investment analyst, where his role will include ensuring Jupiter’s participation in global initiatives such as the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. Wallace will take on the role of environmental and responsible investment analyst, working closely with fund managers on Jupiter’s environmental and responsible funds.

 

David Milia is the new associate director of the Centre for Corporate Sustainability at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business. The centre is dedicated to finding a balance among economic development, social wellbeing and environmental protection.
Milia has more than 14 years of oil and gas experience within multiple disciplines, including time at EnCana, later Cenovus.

Jan-Peter Schwartz will become vice-president for corporate communications and chief sustainability officer at German lighting manufacturer Osram. Before joining Osram, former business journalist Schwartz was in charge of global communications for Siemens Energy Sector.

Canadian mining company Aureus Mining has appointed Karin Ireton to its board of directors. Ireton has joined the board as a nominee of the International Finance Corporation. She is a leader in the sustainable development field and has served as head of group sustainability management at Standard Bank since 2009.

The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has appointed Terry Thornton as its head of online learning for the PRI Academy, based in Washington, DC. PRI acquired the Responsible Investment Academy, the world’s leading responsible investment education business, in September this year. Now known as the PRI Academy, it will continue to educate investment professionals about environmental, social and governance issues. Thornton joins the PRI from US SIF, the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, where he was assistant director of education.

 

people and careers  people on the move 

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