Appointments: Isio and LCP target growth with new hires

Consultancy group Isio has made two senior appointments including hiring Andy Tunningley as head of growth projects. 

The company has also appointed Karen Gainsford to partner as it seeks to strengthen its leadership team. 

Gainsford joined Isio following the acquisition of Deloitte’s UK pension business in 2023. She advises on pension risk transfer and Isio said she would continue to work on growing this area of the business. 

Tunningley joins from M&G where he was head of strategic partnerships, and he has previously held senior positions at Aon and BlackRock.  

Andrew Coles, Isio’s chief executive officer, said Tunningley’s expertise would be “instrumental in driving our ambition to create innovative services for clients”. 

McArthur to lead LCP’s sole trustee engagement

LCP has appointed Holly McArthur as head of sole trusteeship. She is currently a partner with the consulting firm, having joined in 2011. 

The company said her appointment was a response to the growth in sole trustees. An LCP survey last yearfoundthat a quarter of UK defined benefit pension schemes had appointed a sole trustee. 

In her new role, McArthur will lead on engagement with professional trustee firms providing sole trustee services and develop LCP’s offering to support this model. 

McArthur said: “We are seeing more and more companies opting for a sole trustee appointment to meet the growing demand for efficiencies and increased governance burden for schemes. 

“Therefore, we need to ensure we have dedicated resources to liaise with the professional trustee firms to understand their approach and to tailor LCP’s services to work most efficiently alongside those. This marks a change in the market which provides both opportunities and challenges.” 

Law Debenture names finance chief

Professional trustee firm Law Debenture has hired Isla Pickering as chief financial officer. 

She joins from LEK Consulting, and previously worked at law firm Linklaters. In her new role, Law Debenture said Pickering would work to “drive our future growth in a controlled and sustainable manner”. 

Denis Jackson, the company’s chief executive officer, said: “Isla brings a wealth of experience to LawDeb and is a fantastic addition to our team. The LawDeb business continues its growth journey and the appointment of Isla will help to expedite this as we progress our ambitious plans.”  

Former TPR non-exec Hudson to chair Royal London

Isabel Hudson will be the new chair of Royal London Mutual Insurance Society, having been appointed as a non-executive director to Royal London’s board. 

A former non-executive director at the Pensions Regulator, Hudson will take over the chair role from Lynne Peacock from 10 February. 

She has also previously served on the boards of RSA Insurance Group, Phoenix Group, BT, the National House Building Council and Standard Life. 

Duffy returns to Aon to lead commercial strategy

Aon has appointed Matt Duffy as chief commercial officer for its global benefits business. 

In the newly created role, he will be responsible for leading the development and execution of the unit’s commercial strategy. 

He joins from Mercer Marsh Benefits where he was global commercial leader. Duffy previously spent six years at Aon as head of online consulting.