This week's pension industry movers and shakers include: ZEDRA, MFS Investment Management and AMPS

Zedra appoints Clare James.

Professional trustee firm Zedra has appointed Clare James as head of sole trustee services. She will lead the development of Zedra’s professional corporate sole trustee service (PCST) and chair Zedra’s PCST committee, which oversees all Zedra’s sole trustee appointments.

James has been a client director at Zedra since January 2019. Before joining Zedra, she spent most of her career in various roles at Punter Southall (now XPS). 

Kim Nash, managing director of ZEDRA Governance, commented: “We appointed Clare to this central role for her energy, experience, and track record in the sole trustee space. We expect strong growth in demand for PCST services, and Clare will lead the team as we respond to this without compromising on the high-quality governance our clients expect.”

MFS appoints Martina Jersakova.

MFS Investment Management has appointed Martina Jersakova as UK institutional sales director. She will develop opportunities to promote MFS’s range of fixed income and equity capabilities to UK institutions, such as local government pension schemes, corporate schemes, charities and fiduciary managers. She will be part of the firm’s global consultant relations team led by Maddi Forrester.

Jersakova will be based in MFS’ London office and report to Kelly Tran, managing director of UK and Ireland institutional sales.

Jersakova is an ambassador and co-lead of the ambassadors’ programme for the Diversity Project. In addition, she is a trustee of the Diversity Project charity and a trustee of the GenEM Foundation, a nonprofit organisation focused on supporting sustainable livelihoods in emerging markets. She also volunteers her time as a mentor for Girls Are Investors. 

AMPS announces new committee.

The Association of Member-Directed Pension Schemes (AMPS), the industry body representing SIPP and SSAS providers, has re-elected Sarah Hawkins of Punter Southall SIPP Limited and Debbie Seaton of SeaBridge SSAS, and elected Kevin Whitmore of WBR Group to the AMPS committee.

Hawkins, Seaton, Whitmore and their colleagues within the AMPS will focus on the compliance, technical and legal aspects of the self-invested sector, responding to issues such as the DWP levy proposals and continued changes to financial regulation.