Deals & People September 17, 2007

CEO Storms is Out at Marsh

Marsh&McLennan Companies, Inc. says that Brian M. Storms is stepping down from his position as chief executive officer of Marsh, Inc., MMC’s insurance broking subsidiary, effective immediately.
Reported by

The search for a successor is already underway, according to a press release. In the interim, Michael G. Cherkasky, president and chief executive officer of MMC, will serve as Acting CEO of Marsh.

“Brian has made important contributions to Marsh’s recovery over the past two years,” Cherkasky said. “Our long-term strategy is sound and a solid foundation has been built. That said, we now need a different set of leadership and operational skills to complete the successful transformation of Marsh.”

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On Friday the Wall Street Journal said that Storms was removed from his post, citing people familiar with the matter. Storms declined to comment about the circumstances of his departure to the Journal.

Storms was named as Marsh CEO in 2005, after just nine months as president and chief executive officer of Mercer Human Resource Consulting, which is now known as Mercer (See Mercer Drops HR from Name to Reflect Range of Business). Storms had been tapped to head the merged operations of Mercer’s defined contribution administration business with Putnam in 2004. Previously Storms was president and chief executive officer of UBS Global Asset Management, Americas.

Products September 17, 2007

Swiss Co. to Offer Sustainable Asset Management Strategies to U.S. Investors

Sustainable Asset Management (SAM) is expected to make its Sustainable Water, Sustainable Climate, and Global Sustainability strategies available to U.S. institutional and retail investors by the end of the year.
Reported by

SAM’s strategies promote investing in companies at the forefront of developing and implementing innovative technologies and solutions for natural resource sustainability, according to a press release. SAM’s core offering includes innovative theme investment strategies such as water and climate change, geared to sophisticated institutional and retail investors.

“Growing concerns about the long-term impacts of climate change, the need for alternative energy, the scarcity of natural resources such as water are among the many examples of sustainability issues that have captured the attention of institutional and private investors worldwide,” said Reto Ringger, founder and CEO of SAM, in the press release.

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SAM launched the family of Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) in 1999 to track the performance of more than 1,000 companies that are industry leaders in terms of sustainability.

The Zurich, Switzerland-based firm has $11.8 billion in assets under management and index licenses, and teamed up with Robeco Group last year.

Further information can be accessed at http://www.sustainability-indexes.com/.

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