Brunel Pension Partnership has announced that Denise Le Gal will end her eight-year tenure as chair in October and will be replaced by Sally Bridgeland.
Bridgeland will join Brunel’s board as deputy chair on 1 May before formally taking over as chair in October.
She is an actuary with extensive executive, advisory and non-executive experience across pensions and investments, spanning the private and public sector. She has served as a non-executive director on the board of Impax Asset Management Group since 2015 and as chair since 2020, a role which will end in the summer of 2024.
Brunel said that it approaches board recruitment strategically, balancing industry and stakeholder management experience with its desire to benefit from multiple perspectives.
“In line with our approach as asset owner, Brunel continues to seek out diversity across professional experience, nationality, gender, and race. Brunel has eight board members, of whom five are independent and four are women,” the UK investment pool stated.
It said that Bridgeland’s experience as a trustee and non-executive director includes investment committee chair at NEST, and chair of Local Pensions Partnership Investments, the latter from its inception in 2015 to 2023.
Bridgeland currently serves on the boards of two insurers, Pension Insurance Corporation and RSA, and as chair at BelleVie Care.
She also worked for Hewitt Associates (now Aon) in pensions and investment consulting research and innovation, and in her current role as honorary group captain in 601 Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, providing insights from business and finance to the senior leadership team at the Royal Air Force.
Laura Chappell, chief executive officer at Brunel Pension Partnership, said: “Sally offers multiple strengths as both a leader and a board member. She benefits from exceptional experience across pensions and investment and has a strong track record in both responsible investment and stakeholder relations.
“I am delighted that our partnership has found such a strong candidate to provide guidance as Brunel enters the next chapter in our development, and I look forward to working closely with her.”
Andy Brown, deputy CEO for the Wiltshire Council and shareholder representative for Wiltshire Pension Fund, added that Brunel requires a chair adept at working with a range wide of stakeholders to ensure that the partnership can continue to make meaningful progress across value for money, performance and responsible investment.
He added that shareholders were unanimous in support for her appointment.
Bridgeland said: “I’m delighted and honoured to be joining Brunel at such a crucial moment for pooling and pensions investment in the UK.”
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