People moves: Merchant Navy Officers pick scheme chair

Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund (MNOPF) – Mike Jess has been appointed as the new chair of the pension fund. He became a member nominated trustee of the MNOPF in 2011 and has been vice chair since 2014.

Jess joined Nautilus International, the international trade union representing maritime professionals in April 2001, where he eventually became assistant general secretary in 2011 and more recently senior policy adviser. He has also been vice chair of the Ensign Retirement Plan, secretary of the Nautilus Welfare Fund, and a trustee of the Merchant Navy Welfare Board, the Maritime Charities Funding Group and the Maritime Education Trust, which he chaired.Jess succeeds Rory Murphy, who is stepping down after 10 years as MNOPF chair.

South Yorkshire Pensions Authority (SYPA) – Andrew Stone has been appointed as the authority’s new assistant director – investment strategy. He will replace Sharon Smith whose retirement was announced earlier in the year.

Stone joins from Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), where he served as client relationship director. With a career spanning over 25 years, he is a qualified actuary who has worked with a vast range of pension schemes, including some of the largest and most complex in the UK.

Throughout his tenure at LGIM and Border to Coast, Stone has been a strong advocate for ESG and responsible investment, which are integral to SYPA’s investment strategy. His experience includes serving on the senior management team at Border to Coast, SYPA’s pooling partner, making him familiar with the workings of LGPS funds.

SEI – Priti Ruparelia has been appointed to the SEI master trust board of directors. In addition to her board responsibilities, Ruparelia will serve as a member of the master trust investment sub-committee.

Ruparelia is trustee director and head of defined contribution at Independent Governance Group (IGG), one of the UK’s leading providers of professional pensions trusteeship and governance services.

With more than 25 years of experience in the pensions sector, her experience includes managing defined contribution (DC) contracts and single trust and master trust arrangements, establishing new DC pension schemes, and transitioning schemes to master trust arrangements.

Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) – The firm has named Phil Reid as head of sales as it strengthens its client group leadership team.

Reporting to chief client officer Ed Venner, Reid will oversee both wholesale and institutional sales in this newly created role. He will be responsible for driving the company’s sales, strategy, and delivery in the UK and internationally.

Reid joined RLAM in 2016 as head of wholesale, having previously spent a decade at HSBC Global Asset Management. He has more than 20 years of industry experience.

Principal Asset Management – Daniel Maric has been appointed as the firm’s managing director and head of distribution for Austria and Germany. He will be responsible for leading sales, client, and consultancy efforts in both regions across all asset classes and investment teams.

Maric will develop and implement a distribution plan to market the services of Principal to the institutional and wealth management sector in Austria and Germany, reporting to Tim Hill, head of US and European client group.

Maric’s promotion follows three years at the firm, where he most recently served as head of institutional sales, real estate, and infrastructure for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Standard Life – Andrew Davies has been named as the group’s independent chair for its independent governance committee (IGC), which oversees the interests of just over 3 million workplace and Investment Pathways personal pension scheme members.

A member of the Standard Life IGC since September 2023, Davies will take up his role as committee chair on 1 January 2025. He also sits on the Standard Life Master Trust Company Board, a trustee director role he’s held since January 2020, chairing its administration and governance sub-committee and sitting on its communications and engagement sub-committee.

Current IGC chair David Hare will step down on 31 December 2024, retiring after nearly 10 years, having chaired the IGCs of eight Phoenix Group companies during this tenure including the Standard Life IGC, since 2019, and the Phoenix Life IGC since 2015.

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