Appointments: Hymans names new head of risk transfer

Hymans Robertson has appointed Lara Desay as its new head of risk transfer.

She joined the consultancy in 2022 as a partner, having previously worked at Scottish Widows as head of origination and operations for the firm’s bulk annuity team.

James Mullins, Hymans Robertson’s previous head of risk transfer, is to stay on the team he founded in 2007. He will also take on additional responsibility chairing the firm’s Partnership Council, Hymans said in a statement.

Mullins said: “Prior to taking on this role Lara had already led the risk transfer advice on over £10bn of buy-in transactions. She has also won 12 new risk transfer clients as a result of her in-depth insurer-side experience and her excellent approach to working with trustees and sponsoring employers.

“Above all, she is a fantastic role model within our team, our wider firm and the risk transfer market as a whole.”

APPT announces new chair

Independent Governance Group’s (IGG) Rachel Croft has taken over as chair of the Association of Professional Pension Trustees (APPT).

She succeeds Harus Rai of Capital Cranfield, who has led the organisation for three years.

In addition, the APPT has appointed Vassos Vassou, a director at Dalriada Trustees, as its vice chair in a move that the association said reflected its “growing role, activities and scale”.

During Rai’s three-year term as chair, the APPT’s membership has swelled to 435 accredited professional trustees as the model has grown increasingly popular, particularly in the defined benefit sector.

He also oversaw the introduction of the APPT’s accreditation programme for professional trustees, as well as new industry standards and a code of practice.

Croft is a trustee director at IGG and has more than two decades of experience overseeing pension schemes of all sizes. She joined the APPT’s council in 2021 and regularly interacts with government and regulators.