Appointments: Border to Coast adds three senior staff

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership has appointed two new executives and a new head of responsible investment.

Louise Bryan joins from Lloyds Banking Group as chief people officer, responsible for supporting learning and development and prioritising diversity, inclusion and wellbeing. At Lloyds she was head of people partnering and has more than 20 years’ experience in human resources.

Austin Bodunrin has joined as chief risk officer to oversee and implement risk and compliance across the organisation. He previously worked for IFM Investors and has also been chief risk officer at the Department (now Ministry) for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Meanwhile, Border to Coast also announced the appointment of Tim Manuel as head of responsible investment, replacing Jane Firth, who has retired after six years with the pool and more than 40 years in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

Manuel was previously at Aon where he worked for 18 years, most recently as head of responsible investment. He said: “Responsible investment is at the core of Border to Coast and I’m keen to collaborate with new colleagues, partner funds, the wider LGPS and investment industry to build on the impressive foundations that have been established through the dedication and hard work of Jane and the team.”

Capital Cranfield hires Vodafone pensions manager as professional trustee

Independent trustee firm Capital Cranfield has hired two new professional trustees, including Kate Grant, who was previously head of pensions and benefits at Vodafone.

Grant remains a trustee at the communications giant’s £4.4bn defined benefit (DB) scheme, as well as its chairing the oversight committee for its defined contribution (DC) scheme. She has previously worked in pensions and benefits roles at Rexam, Britvic and AECOM.

Anthea Whitton is the other appointment, joining from Eversheds with 25 years of experience in pensions law across DB, DC and public sector schemes. She has previously worked for Squire Patton Boggs and Pinsent Masons.

Capital Cranfield managing director Harus Rai said the two new hires were “exceptional appointments” who “neatly sum up the differing requirements that prospective clients have”.

He added: “It is also worth noting that Kate’s and Anthea’s appointments mean that we now have exact male-female parity among our lead professional trustees. This is a significant milestone, although not one we have explicitly worked towards, simply looking to appoint the best professional trustees to meet client requirements. It is, however, a good indicator of our culture.”

BESTrustees names Hunter to professional trustee line-up

BESTrustees has also been adding to its professional trustee roster, hiring Sue Hunter from People’s Partnership, the provider of The People’s Pension master trust.

At People’s, Hunter was group chief financial officer. She has previously held senior finance roles at L&G.

Ann Rigby, chair of BESTrustees, said Hunter had “an incredibly strong track record” and would play a “huge part” in the company’s growth plans. 

L&G adds to independent governance committee

Linda Whorlow has been appointed to Legal & General’s (L&G) independent governance committee (IGC), replacing Rachel Brougham, who has stepped down after nine years.

Whorlow recently retired from her role as managing director of Aegon’s workplace savings business, and has previously worked in senior leadership roles across DC, DB, administration and actuarial departments at Aegon.

Rita Butler-Jones, head of DC at L&G, said: “Linda’s wealth of experience will greatly support the IGC in delivering on their responsibility to assess whether members are receiving value for money when it comes to their pension. We welcome her to the committee and look forward to working with her as we continue to scale our ambitions in workplace pensions.”

Hymans names endgame chief for DB clients

Consultancy group Hymans Robertson has appointed Sachin Patel as head of corporate DB endgame strategy to focus on supporting schemes in the final stages of their strategic journey. 

Patel joined Hymans in 2014 and qualified as an actuary in 2020. He is currently a lead consultant in the firm’s corporate DB team. 

He succeeds Leonard Bowman, who has been promoted to head of corporate consulting. 

Patel said: “The pensions landscape in which DB schemes now exist has never been so varied, with changes in funding levels, market innovation, and a variety of endgame solutions, creating a vastly different endgame journey to previous years. 

“This means that the need for a well-executed and clearly defined strategically aligned path has never been more pertinent for companies.”