Appointments: Meyers takes on key London CIV role

London CIV, the investment pool for London’s local authority pension funds, has appointed Andrien Meyers as chief proposition officer, a newly created position designed to expand the pool’s service offering.

Meyers is currently head of pensions investments at the London Borough of Sutton and Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, overseeing almost £2bn in assets. He has also played a leading role in advocating for pooling.

In a press release, London CIV said Meyers’ appointment was part of the pool’s “evolving strategy” to ensure that its partner funds "continue to have further choice in utilising London CIV and cementing a more collegiate London LGPS community”.

It wants to create “a choice of products and services beyond pooling” to further support its 22 partner funds.

Meyers said: “Having been involved with London CIV since its conception over a decade ago, I am extremely excited to now play a more formal role.

“Given the future direction of the LGPS, the exciting journey the London CIV has been through over the past couple of years – now, more than ever before, London is united and I look forward to collaboratively working with our London funds to be innovative, generate efficiency and do what’s right in the best interests of our members.”

The pool also pointed out that there was political consensus behind further pooling and integration across the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales.

The London CIV has so far pooled more than £30bn in assets and realised savings of more than £70m in the nine years since it was established.

As well as his roles at Sutton and Kingston, Meyers has held senior positions at several London councils as well as advisory and non-executive director roles in the investment industry.

He has served as a senior policy adviser to the minister for local government and is an independent politician at the City of London Corporation, where he chairs the Investment and Equity Diversity and Inclusion committees.

Aon hires Hurshman for non-profit role

Consultancy giant Aon has appointed Matt Hurshman as an associate partner within its Bristol-based investment practice. He will focus on advising not-for-profit organisations on their investments.

He joins from Barnett Waddingham where he spent more than eight years as an investment consultant, working with numerous charitable and non-profit clients to support them with their investment arrangements.

Maria Johannessen, senior partner and UK head of investment at Aon, said Hurshman brought “considerable experience” in advising third sector organisations. She added: “Charities are an essential element of society and returns on their invested assets play a vital role in allowing them to continue to deliver on their future aims.

“It is rewarding to play a part in supporting their work by providing independent expertise to their investment strategy and we are looking to expand our efforts in this area.”

Barnett Waddingham strengthens SIPP practice

Separately, Barnett Waddingham has recruited Nick Cooper as its new head of propositions for self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs).

The company said SIPP support and advice was a “key strategic growth area”, with Cooper’s hire the latest in this area. Barnett Waddingham hired Neil Howitt as head of SIPP finance last September, while Adam Burwell joined the team as implementation manager earlier this year.

Cooper will also be Barnett Waddingham’s “consumer understanding outcome lead”, the company said, a key role for compliance with the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty regime.

Cooper joins from SEI where he was head of master trust proposition, overseeing the SEI Master Trust and the National Pension Trust. He has previously worked in a variety of SIPP-related roles at Aviva, Zurich, Clerical Medical and Embark Group.