Appointments: IGG, First Actuarial, Cardano, Capital Cranfield

Professional trustee company Independent Governance Group (IGG), has appointed Priti Ruparelia as head of defined contribution (DC).

She joined IGG in September 2023 from Legal & General, where she led the company’s DC relationship teams.

Ruparelia has more than 25 years of experience and has worked across DC contract, single trust and master trust arrangements. She has previously overseen the setup of new DC pension schemes as well as transfers to master trust arrangements.

Ruparelia replaces Dianne Day, who is leaving the company to return to Australia after 17 years as a professional trustee.

First Actuarial hires Allsopp to boost advisory team

Andrew Allsopp has joined First Actuarial, the company has announced. He was previously a senior actuarial director at Broadstone, having joined as part of its acquisition of Quattro Pensions in 2021.

Allsopp was a founding partner Quattro, which span out of the Midlands office of Hazell Carr.

He said “With our shared values, First Actuarial really does feel like home. Their attitude towards both clients and staff is very much like the business I built at Quattro. First Actuarial say they simply want happy clients and happy staff – treating everyone fairly and always doing the best for clients. That sums it up. It’s professional and friendly in equal measure.”

Allsopp qualified as an actuary in 2002, and is currently on the board of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ Designated Professional Body.

Cardano makes LGPS relationships appointment

Cardano has named Guinevere Taylor to the new role of head of LGPS relationships. She joins from RBC BlueBay Asset Management where she worked in distribution, focusing on the LGPS sector.

She previously held a similar position at Legal & General Investment Management. Taylor has been an ambassador for the Diversity Project for the past six years.

New professional trustee at Capital Cranfield

Capital Cranfield has appointed Darren Masters as a professional trustee. He joins after 18 years with Mercer where he established and led its covenant consulting group.

Masters has also worked as an insolvency specialist for firms including Kroll/Buchler Phillips, Clark Whitehill and Chantrey Vellacott.

Magoffin joins Slaughter and May

Law firm Slaughter and May has hired Charles Magoffin as a senior counsel in its pensions and pensions de-risking practices. He will take up his new role on 2 September 2024.

Magoffin has been a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer since 2010.

Charles Cameron, partner at Slaughter and May and head of the pensions team, said Magoffin’s “extensive pensions experience and expertise” would help strengthen the company’s capabilities, especially in de-risking.

Eversheds Sutherland appoints partners across multiple offices

Law firm Eversheds Sutherland has made 40 partner promotions across its various international offices, including several UK pensions staff.

With effect from 1 May, new partners in the pensions teams include Amanda Small in the company’s Manchester office, and Vanessa Wells and Rosamund Wood, both based in London.

Lee Ranson, CEO at Eversheds Sutherland International, highlighted that the law firm was making progress against its diversity targets, as it aims to have women making up at least 35% of partners in the UK business by 2027. Across the company, 60% of the recent partner promotions were for women.