Michael McCauley, Senior Officer - Investment Programs & Governance State Board of Administration (SBA) of Florida, which runs the assets of the state’s pensions funds, has taken over from Triodos’ Erik Breen as chair of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN).

McCauley is also a former chair Council of Institutional Investors and a founding member of the Investor Stewardship Group in the US. His appointment was announced at the ICGN's annual general meeting and conference held in Kuala Lumpur last week, which was hosted by KWAP (the Kuala Lumpur Retirement Fund).

Commenting on his appointment McCauley said: “I very much look forward to continuing to serve on the board and am eager to advance ICGN’s leading positions on investor-corporate engagement, investor stewardship practices, member education programs, and relevant regulatory initiatives. The ICGN board is working actively to achieve its strategic priorities on several fronts and expand the organisation’s influence.

"On behalf of all ICGN members, I would like to thank both Erik Breen for his significant contribution to the ICGN over the last several years, most recently as Chair of the board, and also Phil Armstrong who has provided critical input and guidance as Vice-Chair.”

ICGN members which represent more than $26trn also announced the appointment of three new board members. They are Dana Hollinger, Board Member, CalPERS; Ian Burger, Head of Corporate Governance, Newton Investment Management and Paul Schneider, Head of Corporate Governance, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

The fourth edition of the ICGN's global governance principles was launched at the conference. Revisions included the strengthening of its position on ‘one-share-one-vote’ and emphasise that divergence from this standard should be avoided and also the introduction of a new principle stating that companies should confirm to shareholders whether or not their votes have been validly recorded and normally counted.

Two corporate governance veterans were also recognised at the event. Anita Skipper, currently senior analyst – corporate governance at Aviva Investors and Jamie Allen, Founding Secretary General, Asian Corporate Governance Association each received the   ‘ICGN Lifetime Achievement Award’ in recognition of their work.

Skipper is considered to be one of the pioneering first generation of governance campaigners in the UK, she has been driving standards for over twenty years and is a Founding member of the UK Corporate Governance Forum while Allen has been instrumental in developing higher corporate governance standards across Asia.