New co-chair appointed at Association of Member Nominated Trustees

Flynn will sit alongside Maggie Rodger, who will continue in her position as co-chair.

Flynn, who has been an AMNT committee member for several years, said: “I look forward to continuing the fight to protect members’ interests as co-chair of the AMNT.

“Member-nominated trustees are a vital safeguard for members. We are the only ones on a board whose sole focus is on member outcomes, yet the position is currently being eroded.

“Government and the regulator would do well to remember why the position was created in the first place, after the Maxwell scandal, when those who were supposed to be independent and acting in members’ interests ‘looked the other way’ as funds were plundered and lives ruined.”

“The slide towards sole trusteeship is deeply worrying… as it could take us back in some ways to the ‘bad old days’ when independence of thought and deed could not always be guaranteed.”

John Flynn, AMNT

He has spent 44 years in the UK energy industry’s finance departments, and recently retired from National Grid’s in-house tax team where he was an indirect tax manager.

Flynn is an accredited trustee and holds the Pensions Management Institute’s diploma in pension trusteeship. He is also a trustee of both the National Gas Transmission Pension Scheme and Church of Scotland Pension Scheme, and is a member of the employer committee of the Scottish Housing Association Pension Scheme.

He used his recent appointment to highlight concerns over the rise towards sole trusteeship, a key issue for the AMNT.

Flynn said: “The slide towards sole trusteeship is deeply worrying… as it could take us back in some ways to the ‘bad old days’ when independence of thought and deed could not always be guaranteed.

“I am pleased that the regulator has listened to our concerns and has announced an enquiry into this issue. Member protection is paramount, and we as an organisation will fight to ensure this remains front and centre in any future discussions.”