People Moves 23 June: Who is hiring who within the industry?

An overview of this week's most important hires and departures within the net zero investment community.

Church Commissioners appoints head of responsible investment

The Church Commissioners for England has appointed Olga Hancock as its new head of responsible investment.

Hancock joined the Church Commissioners in 2019 as a senior engagement analyst and became deputy head of responsible investment two years later. 

She currently also chairs the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association Policy Committee, is co-chair and co-founder of the Investor Policy Dialogue on Deforestation Indonesia, sits on the steering committee of the Finance Sector Deforestation Action and was recently elected lead of the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance Policy Workstream.

Between 2011 and 2019, Hancock worked for law firm Simmons & Simmons, and acted as legal advisor in the United Nations Climate Change negotiations for the Paris Agreement and Rulebook, advising delegations from climate vulnerable countries on international climate law.

The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England, a £10.3 billion investment fund.

Impax names co-portfolio manager for Asia strategies

Impax Asset Management has appointed Manish Bishnoi as a portfolio manager, based in Hong Kong.

Bishnoi will join Oscar Yang as co-portfolio manager of Impax’s Asian Environmental and Asian Opportunities strategies from October of this year. 

He will succeed Kirsteen Morrison, who has been Interim co-portfolio manager on both strategies since David Li passed away unexpectedly in October 2022.

Bishnoi has more than a decade of experience in Asian equities, with expertise in portfolio management, fundamental equity investing, thematic investing, ESG integration and stewardship. He joins Impax from Macquarie Asset Management, where he was a Portfolio Manager on the Asian Progress Fund.

AXA IM Core names co-heads of client group

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has appointed Pietro Martorella and André Thali as co-heads of its client group for AXA IM Core.

AXA IM Core brings together the fixed income, equities, multi-asset platforms as well as the ETF business at the business.

Effective July 1, both Martorella and André Thali will report to Hans Stoter, global head of AXA IM Core, and have the joint responsibility to serve clients and drive growth.

Martorella will lead Western Europe, Southern Europe, Americas and marketing in addition to his current responsibilities as head of core client group Southern Europe team. Thali will lead Northern Europe, DACH (Germany, Austria & Switzerland), Asia, Japan, ETF and product strategy in addition to his current responsibilities as head of Core client group DACH.

Matt Lovatt, currently global head of client group for AXA IM Core, will retire on 1 July, 2023.

Octopus Investments appointments senior director

Octopus Investments has named Sean McLachlan as senior investment director within its sustainable infrastructure team.

McLachlan joins from Aviva Investors, where he was senior director for over seven years, with roles including fund manager across the infrastructure equity investment mandates. 

His responsibilities included investment strategy, client engagement and fundraising. Previous roles also included as investment director at Balfour Beatty Investments.

Reporting to Robert Skinner, head of sustainable infrastructure, McLachlan will be co-head of the Octopus Sustainable Infrastructure Fund alongside Lukasz Michalak. The fund was incorporated last year with cornerstone investment from the UK Infrastructure Bank.