People Moves: Week ending Friday 18 October 2024

Legal & General makes senior group management committee hires

16 October

Legal & General (L&G) has appointed Laura Mason and Katie Worgan to senior roles on its group management committee (GMC).

Mason has been appointed chief executive (CEO) of the firm's retail division. She is currently the CEO of L&G's private markets business and led its institutional retirement division and was also part of the founding team of its alternative assets business. Prior to joining L&G, she worked as a consultant to UK life insurers at WTW.

She will take up her new role in December, succeeding Bernie Hickman.

Worgan has been appointed to the newly-created role of group chief operating officer and will take up her new role in the first quarter of 2025. She currently works as managing director and chief operating officer of consumer relationships at Lloyds Banking Group, where she leads the development of consumer relationships across customer servicing and non-customer facing operations. Prior to this, she worked at HSBC and held international leadership roles across a range of sectors including private banking, wealth, retail banking, strategy and general management.

In her new role, she will lead L&G's operations, technology, digital and data, procurement and property and workplace strategies and will be working across functions and divisions.

Both appointments are subject to regulatory approval.

L&G CEO António Simões said: "We are making rapid progress on our vision for a growing, simpler, better-connected business. Today's leadership appointments reflect our intention to continue to move at pace to implement our strategy.

"Laura is an exceptional leader whose knowledge of L&G and expertise across our businesses will help us further strengthen collaboration across our divisions to drive profitable growth in retail, while Katie combines a global, customer centric mindset and technical expertise with proven experience leading large and complex businesses through transformation. I am confident both will have a big impact in their new roles."

Mason commented: "Our retail businesses are foundational to L&G, reflecting our roots in insurance as well as being an important growth opportunity for the Group as we expand our Workplace retirement proposition. I'm delighted to be taking leadership of our talented team to deliver an exciting strategy that will see us deepen our support for customers throughout their lifetimes."

Worgan added: "Operational excellence is central to achieving L&G's strategic ambitions and continuing to deliver its strong sense of purpose. I'm looking forward to working with teams across the business to harness technology and data to deliver great experiences and outcomes for customers, clients and colleagues."

By Martin Richmond

XPS appoints transformation intelligence lead

15 October

XPS Group has appointed Jonathan Churcher as transformation intelligence lead within its insurance consulting division.

Churcher joins from KPMG where he worked in a senior role within the financial services transformation practice, and has experience delivering large-scale projects in insurance, banking and asset management.

He joins the firm this month, following the recent news that XPS appointed David Honour to lead its insurance consulting division.

Churcher said: "I am excited to be joining XPS and look forward to working with David Honour again and the rest of the talented XPS team. XPS's innovative approach to developing tailored client solutions, alongside their commitment to delivering excellent customer experience was a major draw for me. I look forward to contributing to developing the insurance consulting team and helping clients unlock new opportunities as they navigate an increasingly complex and fast-moving marketplace."

Honour added: "We are pleased to welcome Jonathan to the insurance consulting team. His wealth of experience leading large-scale complex transformation and technology-driven initiatives across insurance, banking, and asset management is invaluable to our clients. Jonathan's leadership will help us expand our capabilities and deliver cutting-edge solutions that meet the evolving needs of the insurance industry."

By Jasmine Urquhart

Border to Coast appoints joint committee chairs

15 October

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership has appointed councillors George Jabbour and Doug McMurdo as joint committee chairs.

Jabbour will take on the role of chair, while McMurdo will be vice chair of the joint committee, which is made up of a representative of each of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pool's partner funds.

Jabbour has a previous career in investment banking and has worked at Goldman Sachs, before being elected as a councillor in North Yorkshire in 2022.

McMurdo, who is also chair of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, spent the previous two years as chair of the joint committee, and has been a member of the Bedfordshire Pension Fund committee since 2009.

Jabbour said: "Having served as vice-chair of the joint committee, it is a particular privilege to receive the vote of confidence of my colleagues to take on this vital role, particularly as we navigate the upcoming investment and regulatory changes to the LGPS.

"I look forward to building on the positive and productive working relationships that I have developed with the committee and with the rest of the team at Border to Coast to ensure that we do everything possible to deliver for the members of the LGPS."

McMurdo added: "It has been a privilege to have been heavily involved in pooling over the last decade. I have, with others, been a key influencer in shaping the operation in Leeds, particularly before the company achieved its Financial Conduct Authority accreditation in July 2018.

"We now collectively move into the next phase of delivering our shared ambition for all partner funds for the ultimate benefit of our beneficiaries, employers, and of course the wider stakeholder interests.

"I am delighted to have the support of colleagues to continue as vice-chair of the joint committee."

By Jasmine Urquhart

People's Partnership appoints director of public affairs

14 October

People's Partnership has appointed Victoria Jonson as director of public affairs.

Jonson will join the provider of the People's Pension in November where she will look to develop the provider's relationship with the government and the wider business community. She currently works as senior director of public affairs at the British Business Bank where she manages the bank's relationship with the government, trade bodies and think tanks. Prior to this, she held roles with several trade bodies including insolvency and restructuring organisation R3.

People's Partnership chief executive Patrick Heath-Lay said: "Victoria's vast experience will be instrumental in further developing our influence and collaboration with government, regulators and industry stakeholders. She will also play a key role in helping to raise awareness of our socially driven purpose to a wider audience."

Jonson added: "I am delighted to join People's Partnership at such a crucial time for pensions policy, during which we hope to work alongside the government to drive changes that deliver greater value for savers. This is such a unique business, a not-for-profit with strong values and purpose which has already done so much to help its members become financially stronger. I am looking forward to the many exciting challenges ahead."

By Martin Richmond

TPT IM appoints managing director

14 October

TPT Investment Management (TPT IM) has appointed Nicholas Clapp as managing director.

Clapp joined TPT Retirement Solutions as commercial director in May last year and has responsibility for the commercial development across both its defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) offerings. He will combine these responsibilities with heading up TPT IM and succeeds Cliff Speed in the new role.

Prior to joining TPT, Clapp worked as head of business development at Kempen Capital Management where he led the fiduciary management sales team. He has also held senior business development and consultancy roles working with DB and DC schemes at Hymans Robertson and XPS Group.

In addition, TPT IM has appointed Chris Dickins as client director and Valia Tzoka as operations reporting manager.

Dickins joins from Van Lanschot Kempen IM where he worked as a client director and was responsible for leading and managing client relationships within its fiduciary management business. In his new role, he will have responsibility for leading client relationships with trustees who work with the firm's DB Connect and fiduciary management services.

Tzoka joins from Millenium Global Investments where she served as a client reporting manager for 16 years. In her new role, she will have responsibility for TPT IM's client reporting and will include new data sets into the reporting process to support client engagement and decision making.

These appointments follow the launch of TPT IM's standalone fiduciary management service which builds on the model of scheme consolidation for DB schemes and uses an assortment of asset class specific funds to aggregate the assets currently managed by TPT with those of external pension schemes to generate benefits across a broad range of strategies.

TPT Retirement Solutions chief executive David Lane said: "TPT IM's new leadership team has an excellent track record and a readiness to take on the challenges and responsibilities of running an important part of our business. I look forward to working closely with them as we grow TPT IM in line with our clients' high expectations. These new appointments will focus on our high-quality client offerings and deliverables as we grow our new fiduciary management service."

Clapp added: "I'm thrilled to take over the leadership of TPT IM as we launch our new fiduciary management service. Our distinctive ownership model allows our fiduciary management services to stand out, providing value, operational simplicity, and the ability to invest at scale in private markets.

"The new offering aims to provide better value to the schemes, incorporate the highest levels of stewardship and deliver better outcomes for members. I would also like to welcome Chris and Valia to the business. Their extensive experience and industry knowledge will ensure they both make valuable contributions to our future growth."

By Martin Richmond

Quietroom recruits Matt Dodds

14 October

Quietroom has announced it will be working with NextGen co-founder and chair Matt Dodds.

The consultancy said Dodds would provide support with its growth plans and bring his industry experience to the role. Dodds previously worked as chief growth officer at Capita Pension Solutions and data strategy and services leader at WTW.

Quietroom chief executive Chloe Taylor: "I'm thrilled to be working with Matt. His experience brings a new perspective which complements the skills we've got in-house. He's been a great friend to Quietroom over the years so we're really looking forward to working together more formally."

By Martin Richmond

Brightwell appoints chief information and technology officer

14 October

Brightwell has appointed Simon Liste as the chief information and technology officer.

In his new role at the defined benefit (DB) service provider, Liste will look after investment, administrative, IT infrastructure systems and market support.

With more than 25 years' experience in the technology industry and six within pensions, Liste joins from the Pension Protection Fund where he was chief information and technology officer.

Brightwell chief executive Morten Nilsson said: "The pensions sector has lagged the wider financial services industry when it comes to capitalising on the opportunities that technology offers. At Brightwell, continuous innovation is at the core of what we offer and Simon's expertise will be instrumental in driving forward our technology agenda, ensuring that we continue to provide the highest level of service to our clients and their members."

Liste added: "I am delighted to be joining Brightwell at such an exciting time for the organisation. In an era where technology and digital services can be a real differentiator, it is paramount to have both an innovative and robust approach. I believe Brightwell's commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology will set new standards in the UK DB sector."

By Jasmine Urquhart