The latest hires, promotions and appointments for the week ending 5 July 2024.
Wayne Phelan is now sole chief executive officer at professional trustee firm Vidett, after the departure of Naomi L’Estrange. It follows a board-level restructuring at the company.
L’Estrange helped oversee the merger of 20-20 Trustees and Punter Southall Governance Services (PSGS) to create Vidett last year.
She said: “I am sad to be leaving Vidett but I am very proud of what we built at 20-20 Trustees and how well we have grown the business of Vidett since our merger with PSGS last year.
“We have many great people in Vidett and, while I am sorry not to be part of Vidett’s next exciting phase of growth, I know that the business will continue to go from strength to strength.”
John Batting, chair of Vidett, said: “I look forward to working with Wayne in his new role as sole CEO, as we continue to build and develop Vidett. I would also like to thank Naomi for all that she did to make 20-20 Trustees the success that it was and to help create the combined business of Vidett last year. We wish her all success in the future.”
IFoA reveals new-look board
As part of its extensive governance reforms, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) has added six non-executive directors to its new board.
Kudzai Chigiji holds non-executive roles at financial services companies in Namibia, and has previously worked as a consulting actuary in healthcare and banking organisations across Africa.
Sheila Kumar is chief executive of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the regulator for conveyancing and probate lawyers. She is also chair of the audit and risk committee at the General Dental Council.
Tony O’Riordan is chair of the board at wealth management group St James’s Place, and is also a non-executive director at Mercer Global Investments Europe, MetLife Europe and Aviva Insurance Ireland.
Aaron Porter has a portfolio of non-executive board, trustee and advisory roles across a range of sectors, including chair of BPP University’s board of directors and deputy chair of the board at Goldsmiths University of London.
Andrew Rear has non-executive director roles at several at insurance technology companies in the US and UK, and is an adviser to technology-focused private equity firms. He founded and was CEO at Munich Re Digital Partners.
Hitesh Shah is currently a non-executive director at SCOR Reinsurance, and is vice president and a council member at the Singapore Actuarial Society. He has previously worked in senior roles at Manulife, Aviva, Prudential and Deloitte.
In a statement, the IFoA said the new structure would ensure the institute was in line with best practice in corporate governance. The board will oversee the IFoA’s executive team, while the IFoA Council is responsible for developing the institute’s “long-term vision”.
IFoA board chair Lord David Currie said: “In assembling this board, our focus has been on appointing a team with complementary skills and experiences. I believe we have found the right mix, putting us in the best possible position to meet the needs of the IFoA and our members.”
C-suite reshuffle at Clara
Clara-Pensions has appointed Matt Wilmington as chief transactions officer, responsible for leading new deals and integrating new members into the consolidation vehicle.
He joins from Scottish Widows where he spent six years as head of origination and structuring.
Clara CEO Simon True, said Wilmington’s expertise “will be invaluable as we progress to the scale-up stage of our successful development and look towards our strong pipeline of transactions”.
In addition, Luke Stratford-Higton has been named chief actuarial officer, responsible for growing Clara’s actuarial team. He was previously the company’s chief pricing officer.
Meanwhile, chief commercial officer Dan Adams is to leave Clara after two years in the role. He was previously a non-executive director at the company.
Promotions at IGG
Independent Governance Group (IGG) has announced a number of promotions across its business.
Dan Gilmour and Michael Do have been promoted to trustee director. Gilmour is an experienced covenant advisory specialist, while Do spent 15 years in various roles at the pension funds for Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC before joining Ross Trustees – now part if IGG – in 2022.
Collette Taylor, Lewis Drew, Maria Keen and Stephanie Jenner have all been promoted to associate director. Andrew McCarthy, Chris Tabersham and David Preston have been promoted to trustee manager, while Richard Haslam has been made a senior associate and Adam Whitehead, Ceri Tracey, Keira Neale and Nick Bird are now associates.
Slinger to lead XPS covenant team
Arabella Slinger has been named as the new leader of XPS Pensions Group’s covenant advisory team, taking over from Paul Jameson.
Slinger will lead the combined team that includes staff from Penfida, which XPS acquired in 2022.
Jameson, who has led the covenant advisory team since the acquisition, is to remain with the company, XPS said.
BESTrustees adds Hymas to board
Professional trustee firm BESTrustees has appointed Bob Hymas to its board.
He has worked at BESTrustees since 2016 and is the former chief financial officer for the Merchant Navy Officers’ Pension Fund.
Hymas joins fellow board members Ann Rigby, who chairs the board, Huw Evans and Andy Boorman.
New transformation chief at Aptia
Pensions administration specialist Aptia has hired Vikramaaditya as chief transformation officer.
He joins from BNY Mellon where he was a managing director, overseeing strategic and regulatory programs. He has also previously held key leadership positions at HSBC and Citi, including global chief transformation and administration officer at HSBC Asset Management and CEO of HSBC Asset Management India.
