The Evolving Endgame

Mark is a Trustee and former Chief Investment Officer of the Nationwide Pension Fund, where he had responsibility for the performance and implementation of the asset allocation strategies agreed with the fund investment advisors.

Previously, he led the establishment of Nationwide’s Covered Bond programme and its Silverstone RMBS Master Trust funding vehicle. In addition, Mark has securitised UK Student Loans and a synthetic corporate bond structure along with structured transaction and investment in various ABS instruments. Past experience also includes leading the origination and structuring of social housing, PFI and commercial real estate debt transactions.

Fiona started her career in Welfare Rights advice, including work for CPAG, the child poverty action group, helping claimants understand and challenge legislation, and decisions of the department she now works for.

However over the past 20 years, she has worked in The Pensions Regulator, across a variety of roles leading operational teams, managing change and in most recent years, as Head of Policy, introducing initiatives such as DB codes, Master Trust authorisation and taking account of climate change risks in pension scheme funding.

In July 2021, Fiona joined the DWP as Deputy Director of the Defined Benefit Policy team. Her role is demanding and cross cutting, where she supports the Directorate to deliver DB policy and work closely across the wider network of stakeholders and external organisations, supports the Minister for Pensions to deliver changes to policy regulations, including new rules for scheme funding, new powers for the regulator and support for PPF to deliver appropriate protection for members.

George is Capita’s leading expert in investment strategy for DB Pension Schemes. He has a broad background from 15 years of working across actuarial and investment consulting to both trustees and corporates across a range of scheme sizes at three of the larger firms in the pension industry.

George’s key responsibilities within Capita are to advise clients on investment strategy, shape Capita’s investment proposition and lead our investment research initiatives.

Adolfo is a Managing Director at Cardano Advisory. He leads Cardano’s growing Risk-Solutions practice, which designs, executes, and supports trustees, corporates and asset owners on a wide range of underwritten, risk-transfer structures and run-on journey plans. The team is recognised as a market leader in counterparty analysis, having advised on the transfer of over £40bn of pension liabilities since 2014. 

Adolfo has experience working with insurers, reinsurers, banks and alternative de-risking providers on solvency, regulatory, and other corporate matters that drive the strategic decision making.

Prior to Cardano, Adolfo worked in New York in both corporate finance and capital markets roles. 

David enjoys helping solve challenges facing the pensions industry. He is experienced in leading investment and strategic advice; working with pension schemes of all sizes as a trusted adviser. 

He also spends time working on alternative risk transfer solutions (e.g. capital-back financial arrangements).

Fiona is currently Group Head of Pensions & Benefits at Rolls-Royce Plc. Her role is a hands on one in the UK, with fiduciary and strategic responsibilities outside the UK. Fiona is also global lead on Financial Wellbeing strategies. Fiona has previously held in house Pensions and Reward lead roles at Thomas Cook Plc and Electricity North West.

Prior to her in-house roles, Fiona spent 14 years at the Big 4, in consultancy roles. Fiona’s passion is financial wellbeing, improving general numeracy skills and better supporting people in making effective short and long term financial decisions.

Adam has been a leading figure in the growth and development of the bulk annuity market in the period since it began its expansion in 2007.

Before he founded K3 Advisory, he spent 4 years leading KPMG’s buyout advisory practice in the North of England and Scotland. Prior to KPMG, he was Pricing Director at MetLife where he was successful in building their bulk annuity business in the UK from start-up to being a market leading provider, before eventually being sold to Rothesay Life in 2014.

In 2018, with the support of the Vestey Family and Western Pension Solutions, Adam founded K3 Advisory with the aim of using his unique experience to help trustees and sponsors find a secure home for their legacy defined benefit pension arrangements. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.

Tim is Head of Delegated Solutions, with responsibility for the design and implementation of bespoke client solutions across the range of delegation options.

Tim joined LGIM in 2015 from Towers Watson, where he was Head of Investment Strategy for the UK delegated investment services business, and a member of the portfolio construction group. He worked at Towers Watson (formerly Watson Wyatt) for 11 years delivering advice and solutions to a range of pension funds and other institutional investors.

Tim is a fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, and graduated from Oxford University in 2002 with a Master’s degree in physics.

Callum joined Insight in April 2019 and is a Solution Designer in the Client Solutions Group. Callum works on the design and delivery of investment solutions tailored to address the specific risk and return of Insight’s clients.

Prior to joining Insight, Callum spent over six years at KPMG as an investment consultant. Here, he helped with the design and implementation of investment strategies for defined benefit pension schemes. He was also co-head of investment strategy research and a member of the LDI and ALM research teams.

Callum graduated from the University of Warwick with an MMath (first) in Mathematics. He is also a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in the UK (FIA). 

Kenneth is an Investment Actuary with over 32 years’ experience advising trustees and corporate sponsors of a wide range of defined benefit pension schemes.

He is an investment strategy and risk management specialist consultant, currently leading Aon’s End Game Investment Solutions team, in particular the investment solutions component of Aon’s Active Solution To Run On (ASTRO) for clients. Kenneth also represents Aon on the Society of Pension Professionals Investment Sub-Committee.

Steve helps large institutional investors deliver better returns. He is an experienced negotiator of pension scheme funding strategies, advising both corporate sponsors and scheme trustees. 

Steve has been leading LCP’s proposals to reform how DB Pension schemes are managed, working with Government, TPR and industry bodies. He believes a new “opt-in” system with 100% PPF cover and ability to use ongoing scheme surpluses would transform outcomes for DB members, DC savers and companies sponsoring DB schemes. 

Ian is a highly experienced pensions investment executive. Most recently, he has been the Chief Investment Officer at Lloyds Banking Group Pensions, overseeing some £40 billion of assets across both DB and DC sections. He joined Lloyds from Aviva, where he carried out a similar role. Prior to that, he was the CIO of the Pension Protection Fund. Ian is also a member of the actuarial profession’s Finance and Investment Board, while also being Chairman of EPFIF’s Pension Fund Investment Advisory Committee.

Russell joined M&G Investments in 2019 to head the Global Insurance Solutions team. The team brings together expertise from across the firm to meet the complex requirements of insurance clients. 

Immediately prior to joining M&G, Russell worked at Legal & General, where he spent four years in the retirement division executing large bulk annuity transactions and developing new products. He worked closely with the internal manager on cash-flow matching strategies, holistic portfolio management, and incorporating illiquid assets into portfolios. 

He has a broad background in insurance and pension consulting, investing private capital, portfolio restructuring, corporate banking and quantitative finance. Russell holds a Doctorate from Queen’s University Belfast in Theoretical Physics. 

Andrew has spent nearly 25 years working in pensions and is APMI qualified. He considers pensions to be all about engaging with people to improve their future financial security. He has managed many types of pension arrangements for very different organisations with unique attributes. 

Andrew’s work has included: 

• Innovative pension solutions – with focus on digitisation, simplification and effective communication 
• DB schemes – closures, de-risking liabilities, long term objectives, endgame, s75 debt, New Fair Deal 
• DC arrangements – auto re-enrolment, pension freedoms, investment changes, Master Trusts, aim for better outcomes 

• HR Teams – Reward matters, group risk benefits, annual pay reviews, impact on high earners of Annual & Lifetime Allowance changes 

Since 2012, Julie has been Director of Pensions at Walgreens Boots Alliance, with responsibility for the company’s pension and retirement policy. Her role includes monitoring market and regulatory requirements and supporting the business in ensuring appropriate funding mechanisms and governance arrangements are in place. In the UK, such arrangements include a large closed DB pension scheme and a large contract-based DC scheme, with accompanying AE obligations. 

Prior to joining WBA, Julie held similar roles in the UK with a number of multinational employers, some of which included a broader remit to include other benefit and reward elements as well as direct involvement in working with trustees and managing both DB and DC trust-based pension schemes. 

Amish is the Head of European Pension and Insurance Risk Solutions Group. He works with European Pension plans and insurance companies on investment, capital optimisation and risk management strategy. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2007 as an Associate, and was named Managing Director in 2017.

Prior to joining the firm, Amish worked at Watson Wyatt (now Willis Towers Watson), where he was an investment consultant, advising institutional clients on asset-liability management and investment strategy design. 

Amish earned a MA in Mathematics from the Queen’s College, Oxford in 2004, and is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Arne Philipp Klug, as Director of Biodiversity Research for MSCI, oversees thematic research on biodiversity and natural capital. He engages with investors and key stakeholders to help clients set and prioritize their investment objectives to biodiversity. In addition, Arne serves on the ESG Editorial Committee.

 

Until 2021, Arne has led MSCI’S ESG research on the transportation sector. He authored several reports on ESG issues with a special focus on the automobiles and airlines industries.

 

Prior to joining MSCI, Arne worked for more than six years as an ESG analyst and account manager at Sustainalytics in Frankfurt and Toronto. Arne holds a master’s degree in communications science, political economics and Hispanic studies from the University of Münster in Germany.

Edmund Truell, also known as Edi, possesses over 30 years of financial services experience in private equity and debt markets. He served as a Director of Hambros Bank in 1991, Chief Executive of Hambro European Ventures in 1994 and subsequently led the 1998 buyout and formation of Duke Street Capital, later spearheading the formation of Duke Street Capital Debt Management in 2000.

In 2006, Edi co-founded Pension Insurance Corporation, a leading insurer of defined benefit pension funds, where he managed £4 billion in assets and led the largest ever UK corporate pension insurance buyout.

Edi has co-founded Pension SuperFund, the UK’s first consolidating pension ‘superfund’, offering a safe and affordable way for British businesses to keep their pension promises to their employees. In 2010, Edi co-founded Disruptive Capital, a leading London-based private equity firm with an impressive track record in sourcing and managing opportunistic investments. In October 2021, as Managing Partner of Disruptive Capital Acquisition Company he successfully reopened the SPAC market with a £125m listing on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.

He is Co-Founder and Trustee of the Truell Conservation Foundation, and a former Trustee of both the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galapagos Conservation Trust. He also sits on the Smithsonian Council of Philatelists. He is a qualified as Chartered Financial Advisor and holds a BSc in Economics & Finance from Durham University.

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) is one of Europe’s largest asset managers and a major global investor, with total assets under management of £1.3 trillion*. We work with a wide range of global clients, including pension schemes, sovereign wealth funds, fund distributors, retail investors and direct investors. 

Throughout the past 50 years, we have built our business through understanding what matters most to our clients and transforming this insight into valuable, accessible investment products and solutions. We provide investment expertise across the full spectrum of asset classes including fixed income, equities, multi-asset, real assets and cash. Our capabilities range from index-tracking, active and exchange-traded strategies to liquidity management and liability-driven risk management solutions.

* Source: LGIM internal data as at 31 December 2020. The AUM disclosed aggregates the assets managed by LGIM in the UK, LGIMA in the US and LGIM Asia in Hong Kong. The AUM includes the value of securities and derivatives positions.