The latest hires, promotions and appointments for the week ending 10 May 2024.
LGPS Central has appointed Trevor Castledine as the pool’s first chief commercial officer.
He joins from consultancy group Bfinance, and has previously held a number of roles within the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), including with Lancashire County Pension Fund and Local Pensions Partnership.
In his new role, Castledine will lead engagement with LGPS Central’s eight partner funds, as well as central and local government, and the broader investment industry.
Castledine said: “I’m very excited to be returning to a role within the LGPS and to the pooling arena at LGPS Central. I’m looking forward to collaborating with our partner funds to help deliver the outcomes they desire and ensure excellent value for money.”
Aviva adds Segal and Poisson to IGC
Aviva has announced the appointments of Jenny Segal and Rene Poisson to its independent governance committee (IGC), which oversees its master trust and other workplace pension offerings.
Segal is chief investment officer at Nesta Trust, which supports the work of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. She has also worked for several large asset management companies, most recently as global head of distribution for Fidelity International’s workplace investing business.
Poisson is chair of the JP Morgan UK Pension Plan among several non-executive positions. He has previously chaired Standard Life’s IGC and been a director of the Standard Life Master Trust. He has also been a director at the Universities Superannuation Scheme.
Segal and Poisson will sit alongside fellow IGC members Colin Richardson, who is the chair, Ian Baines, Georgia Stewart and Emma Douglas.
The pair succeed Marcia Campbell and Gurmukh Hayre, who stepped down from the IGC earlier this year.
Three new hires at Vidett as expansion continues
Professional trustee firm Vidett has added three new staff as part of an ongoing UK expansion.
Clare Routledge has joined as a client director in the company’s Manchester office. She was previously a director at PwC responsible for advising corporate clients on funding, long-term journey planning, endgame solutions, corporate transactions and asset-backed funding solutions.
Michael Smith has also joined the Manchester office as an assistant manager in the governance team. He joins from XPS where he was responsible for a team that oversaw 20 pension schemes.
Rachel Marston has joined Vidett’s team in Birmingham as a manager. She was previously a senior administration manager at Buck.
Spence promotes two to senior roles
Advisory firm Spence & Partners has promoted Tom Pook to chief commercial officer and Graham Newman to chief actuary.
Newman was previously a scheme actuary at Spence, having joined the firm in 2021 from Capita. In his new role, he will be responsible for the design, implementation, and maintenance of professional standards across Spence’s actuarial team, as well as leading on technical development and compliance.
Pook was previously head of Spence’s scheme terminations team with a focus on pensions administration. He has also helped several schemes navigate the Pension Protection Fund’s assessment period.
In his new role, Spence said Pook would combine his existing responsibilities with those of the head of trustee services. He will be responsible for identifying and developing growth and revenue-generating responsibilities, the company said.
IFoA names Hassana’s Sweeting as next president
Paul Sweeting will become president of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) from next summer, the organisation announced late last week.
Sweeting will take on the role next year and will assume the title of president-elect from 24 July this year when Kartina Tahir Thomson becomes president.
He is a senior adviser at Hassana Investment Company, the entity responsible for managing the SAR1.2trn (£256bn) General Organization for Social Insurance in Saudi Arabia.
Kalpana Shah, the current IFoA president, said: “It is unusual for a president-elect to not be a current member of council and his fresh perspective will be invaluable as we continue our journey of cultural transformation and governance reform.”
