UK – Hewitt Associates has hired former Mercer HRC European partner Jonathan Gainsford as consultant at the group’s UK retirement business practice.

Gainsford, 40, was at Mercer for 19 years before leaving at the end of September.

With more than 20 years of retirement consulting experience behind him, Hewitt regards his appointment as a “boost” for its retirement team.

Gainsford, based at Hewitt’s More London and Epsom offices, will be responsible for managing some of Hewitt’s largest trustee clients.

“Hewitt has an impressive portfolio of clients and I’m looking forward to building on the strong relationships already in place,” said Gainsford. “In particular, I am looking forward to helping our trustee clients cope with the challenges they face in today’s regulatory environment.”

Hewitt’s UK managing director, Yvan Legris, added: “This is a time of considerable change in the pensions industry and it is great to have someone of Jonathan’s calibre on board.

“I am delighted to welcome Jonathan to Hewitt and look forward to working with him.”

In other news, Watson Wyatt has appointed former PSolve principal and business manager Ravi Rastogi as senior investment consultant.

Rastogi, who has more than 13 years of broad investment industry experience and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, will join the firm’s expanding investment consulting business in December.

“It is an exciting time to be part of a growing team of investment consultants that is passionate about addressing these needs,” said Rastogi.

Watson Wyatt has also announced the appointment of Alex Sabell and Rikhav Shah – both from Hewitt Associates which they joined in 2003 and 2002, respectively.

They started as investment analysts with the firm this month together with Kai Tou Ho from Cass Business School.

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