LD, TPR, AP2, AP1, AP4, Teachers’ Pension Scheme, People’s Pension, Heywood Technologies, Barnett Waddingham, Vanguard, Premier Miton, SPP

LD Pensions – Lars Mayland Nielsen has been appointed as the new chief executive officer of Denmark’s LD Pensions (LD Fonde), the DKK50bn (€6.7bn) Frederiksberg-based manager of two atypical pension funds.

He will take over from the organisation’s current CEO Dorrit Vanglo, whose decision to step down was announced in February. Vanglo opted to go after 11 years in the top role in order to devote her energy to board work.

Mayland Nielsen is currently head of banking and markets at the Danish central bank (Danmarks Nationalbank), and will start his new job leading LD Pensions on 1 August, according to statements from LD Pensions and the central bank.

Lizette Risgaard, chair of the LD Pensions board, said Mayland Nielsen’s management experience and insight from Danmarks Nationalbank was totally the right background for leading and developing LD Pensions.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Mark, currently the CFO of LD Pensions, is to take over as deputy CEO, and will continue to be responsible for investment and finance, said the firm, which manages the Holiday Allowance Fund (Lønmodtagernes Feriemidler) and the Cost-of-Living Allowance Fund (Lønmodtagernes Dyrtidsmidler).

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) – Charles Counsell will not be seeking a second term as CEO of the UK’s pensions regulator, meaning he will step down at the end of March 2023, TPR said this week. Counsell took up the post of CEO in April 2019 after having spent six years as TPR executive director for automatic enrolment.

TPR chair Sarah Smart said as CEO, Counsell had played a pivotal role in reshaping the regulator as an organisation that “at its heart is now focused on ensuring savers have the best chance of realising the retirement outcomes they deserve”.

Counsell said: “In the face of rapid legislative change, and against a backdrop of the pandemic and challenging economic conditions, I am immensely proud of the work we have delivered. It has been a huge privilege to work with so many dedicated and passionate colleagues.

“Our new 15-year corporate strategy is well-embedded and has led to a fundamental shift in our focus to embrace the changing face of pension saving. From April 2023, there will be an excellent opportunity for a new chief executive to take the strategy into its next phase.”

Still on the agenda for Counsell until he steps down is consulting on the regulator’s new defined benefit code, preparing trustees for dashboards and “pushing on with our work to improve scheme governance and value for money in line with the gathering pace of consolidation”.

AP2 – Mikael Bohman and Rikard Andersson have been appointed as the two newest members of the supervisory board of the Swedish national pensions buffer fund. AP2 said Bohman had been CEO of the bank Sparbanken Västra Mälardalen since 2005, and Andersson had more than 20 years of asset management experience, having been head of equities at SEB Investment Management.

AP1 – Annika Andersson and Erica Sjölander have been appointed as new members of the board of directors of the Swedish state pensions buffer fund. Andersson is currently chair of the supervisory boards of Invisio Communications and Sequitor Engineering, and previously worked for AP4 as a portfolio manager, responsible for ownership issues, information and sustainability, according to AP1.

Sjölander, meanwhile, had held positions on the supervisory boards of AP4 and the Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN), and previously worked as head of the research department at IF Metall and as a political adviser in the political secretariat at the Swedish Prime Minister’s Office, the pension fund said.

AP4 – Per Strömberg and Anders Johansson have been appointed as new members of the fund’s board. Strömberg is professor of financial economics at the Stockholm School of Economics, while Johansson chairs the supervisory board of insurance industry trade union Forena.

AP4 said Maj-Charlotte Wallin and Göran Zetterberg were both leaving the board of directors at the same time. All the new AP fund appointments are effective from 25 May.

Capita/Teachers’ Pensions Scheme – Richard Giles is retiring after two years with Capita as head of Teachers’ Pensions and 32 years in the pensions industry. He will remain in the position until September to ensure a seamless transition. He will will be succeeded in late-June by Alistair Dennis, strategic account director at Capita Pension Solutions.

Capita has been the provider of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), one of the largest public sector pension schemes in the UK, for more than 20 years. The scheme is unfunded.

The People’s Pension – The nearly £18bn (€21bn) UK workplace pension scheme has appointed David Butcher, to its trustee. A CEO three times, Butcher has also served on 16 boards including as a non-executive director of BlackRock Pensions, a trustee of the Legal & General Master Trust, and both a trustee of the master trust and member of the Independent Governance Committee at Scottish Widows. He is also a Member of the Advisory Board of the Fund Boards Council.

Heywood Pension Technologies – Fraser Smart, former BA Pensions CEO, has moved into the role of CEO at Heywood after joining the firm in 2021 as chief strategy officer, and has since worked closely with the management team to develop and implement Heywood’s growth strategy. Fraser brings with him extensive leadership experience and deep knowledge of the pensions sector.

Chris Humphrey, Heywood’s chair, said Smart had “made himself an indispensable part of our business very quickly”. Heywood is a provider of data-driven, technology-enabled solutions for all workplace pensions.

Barnett Waddingham (BW) – The UK pensions consultancy has appointed seven new equity partners among its 2022 promotions. They include Chris Ramsey (scheme actuary and head of defined benefit endgame),Simon Bramwell (head of longevity risk transactions), and Lucy Cresswell (senior pension management consultant, Cheltenham).

This year, three long-standing partners will be retiring as planned from 31 May 2022. They are Nick Salter, one of BW’s founding partners and previously senior partner from June 2012 to May 2020 Shirley Jackson, who led the pensions management team; and pensions and insurance longevity risk specialist Dave Grimshaw.

Separately, BW this week reported that 27 former National Grid pension administration professionals joined the firm on Monday 23 May following the on-boarding of the National Grid UK Pension Scheme.

Vanguard – Andreas Zingg, current country head and managing officer of Vanguard Investments Switzerland, will assume the newly-created role of head of multi-asset solutions for Vanguard, Europe. He will report to Rick Vassell, head of Vanguard’s portfolio review department team, which oversees the funds and ETFs that Vanguard offers, evaluates and develops.

Zingg joined Vanguard in 2016. Before that he was head of iShares sales Middle East & Africa and head of iShares sales for the German-speaking parts of Switzerland at BlackRock.

Simone Rosti, head of Italy and Southern Europe, will assume leadership until a replacement for the position of country head, Switzerland, has been found.

Premier Miton Investors – The firm is broadening its investment offering with the addition of a new emerging market (EM) sustainable equities team. Fiona Manning and William Scholes will join the business in August. Both join from abrdn, where they were in the firm’s global EM (GEM) team.

Both appointments follow the recent hire of Chris Hamer, who joined the firm in April from BNY Mellon, as head of business development – institutional, with responsibility for building, maintaining and developing relationships with institutional investors and investment consultants.

Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) – Steve Hitchiner has been elected the next president of the representative body for the wide range of UK providers of advice and services to work-based pension schemes and to their sponsors. The two-year term takes effect from 1 June 2022. Hitchiner succeeds James Riley, former partner at Isio, who has been president since 1 June 2020.

Hitchiner is a partner at Barnett Waddingham (BW) with almost 20 years of pension advisory expertise at the firm. He sits on BW’s actuarial consulting board, and is a past chair of the firm’s pensions actuarial technical committee, which carries out research and provides technical support across the firm.

“Over the course of my presidency, I intend to continue the SPP’s strong track record influencing policy and provoking debate in the industry,” said Hitchener. ”I believe this is fundamental to get the best outcomes for our members, their clients and ultimately pension scheme members.

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