Spain’s Pensions Caixa 30, a €6bn pension scheme for the employees of CaixaBank and the country’s largest occupational scheme, has appointed Nacho Hernández Valiñani as its new chair of the board of trustees.

He succeeds the previous chair Jordi Jofra, who plans to retire from the board of trustees in the coming months.

Hernández Valiñani was a senior director of the interest rates (IR) and commodity derivatives trading desk at Caixabank.

His appointment is noteworthy in the pension industry due to his unique background, which was focused on derivatives.

He had joined the banking group in 1999 as an IR derivatives trader from Caja Madrid, where he was a structured products trader. He was appointed head of the IR derivatives desk in 2005, becoming senior director in 2016.

Raúl Mateos, head of advisory, investments, Spain, Willis Towers Watson – Pensions Caixa 30’s investment adviser – said: “Hernández Valiñani’s strong background in risk management fits the fund´s current needs, as well as his substantial experience in financial markets that will be able to tackle the challenges in the Spanish pension fund industry.”

Hernández Valiñani is coordinating a smooth transition with the former chair and has already been attending investment and governance committee meetings over the last few months.

The goal is to get him up to speed fast, to ensure a seamless transition.

Pensions Caixa 30 won the best governance and administration award at last December’s IPE Awards, in addition to the silver award for best corporate pension fund.

The board of trustees approved its strategic plan for Pensions Caixa 30 for 2018-2020 with the aim of establishing organisational priorities and agreements around intended outcomes.

This strategic plan is composed of five pillars:

  • Strengthen financial and non-financial sustainability in the long run;
  • Focus on participant satisfaction;
  • Strengthen governance structure and processes;
  • Align the investment process with the fund’s objectives and beliefs; and
  • Maintain leadership in the local market and become an international model.

The plan aims to help Pensions Caixa 30 become an international leader in the pensions industry, recognised for its commitment to sustainability, ability to innovate and the quality of service provided to its members.

This strategic plan has also served as a framework to ease the leadership transition and establish goals and objectives that are resilient in the face of change.

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