UK - Myra Kinghorn, chief executive of the Pension Protection Fund, is to step down in the spring – less than a year after it began operations.

Kinghorn, a former non-executive director of the Serious Fraud Office and member of the OPRA Board, cited “work-life balance”.

“The board of the Pension Protection Fund has today announced that Myra Kinghorn is to step down as chief executive of the Pension Protection Fund in the spring,” the PPF said.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of overseeing the creation of the Pension Protection Fund, and putting in place a robust and effective operational framework that will help deliver real security in retirement for thousands of UK pension scheme members,” Kinghorn, 55, said in a statement.

“Now that the infrastructure and processes are in place, and we have completed the first year of operation, I feel that after almost two years of involvement the time is right for me to step down and hand over the reins to someone who can build on our successes to date.

“This will allow me to redress my work life balance and return to my former part time non-executive career.”

The 60-strong PPF will now go through a public recruitment process, with newspaper advertisements. It’s currently drawing up a job specification, a spokesman said.

In its first year the PPF has admitted more than 50 schemes covering into the assessment period.

Elsewhere, pensions minister John Hutton has backed the main thrust of the Pensions Commission report.

"I don't think you can set about this as a pick and choose menu," he was quoted as saying in an interview with the Financial Times. "It is a broadly coherent package."

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