People moves: BT pension fund names trustee director

BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) – The UK’s largest defined benefit (DB) pension fund, with over £33bn of assets, has named Helen Charnley as an employer-nominated trustee director. She succeeds David Viles who has stepped down from the trustee board.

Charnley is the director of group audit, risk and controls at BT Group. Prior to joining BT in September 2023, she had a similar leadership role at J Sainsbury. Before this, she worked in professional services leading and delivering audit and risk services for a variety of clients.

AP3 – Martin Siwmark has been promoted at the Swedish national pensions buffer fund to the role of head of equities, moving up from his role as head of global equities – a position he has held since September 2024.

Siwmark has previously worked at AMF as well as at the Swedish central bank and Handelsbanken.

AMF – Katarina Ljungqvist has been elected as chair of the Swedish occupational pension fund, succeeding Lars Wedenborn, who has been chair since 2020.

At the same time, Torbjörn Hållö, chief economist at Swedish Trade Union Confederation LO, and Göran Laurén, former head of asset Management at Länsförsäkringar, were chosen as new members of AMF’s board, while Bengt-Åke Fagerman and Lars Hildingson left the board, the pension fund announced.

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management – The firm has expanded its fiduciary team as of 1 April with the appointment of Marlies van Boven and Wim Walsteijn to support the growth of its fiduciary management activities. They will focus on further strengthening the services provided to institutional clients.

In her most recent role at Auréus, van Boven was responsible for strategic wealth management for entrepreneurs and wealthy families. Prior to that, she worked at FTSE Russell (London Stock Exchange Group) and was responsible for the investment process at Barings and BNY Mellon in London. Van Boven has 26 years of experience in the financial sector.

In his most recent role as executive director institutional business development at Aegon Asset Management, Walsteijn was responsible for relationships with a number of existing and prospective clients in the Netherlands and Belgium. Before that, he held various positions at, among others, a.s.r. vermogensbeheer, SPF Beheer (now Pensioenfonds Rail&OV), ABN AMRO and Twynstra Gudde. He brings 41 years of experience in the financial sector.

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) – Katharina Bryan has been appointed director of policy at the GRI, the sustainability reporting standard setter.

She was head of international sustainability reporting policy for Amazon, and spent over 13 years at the European Court of Auditors, including as a head of cabinet, advising on EU sustainability reporting, climate change policy, and performance audit.

WTW – The consultancy has appointed Simon Davidge as a senior director in its defined contribution (DC) advisory team. Davidge’s role will involve leading existing DC client teams and supporting the team’s growth agenda, both through external and internal channels.

Returning to WTW after 10 years, Davidge will be working across WTW clients nationally, reporting to Natasha Rogers, senior director, in London.

Davidge joins WTW from Mercer, where he was a principal consultant, specialising in DC and financial wellbeing for over four years. Prior to that, he held DC-focused consultancy roles at Isio, KPMG and WTW where he worked from 2008-2016.

Alecta – Karin Cederbaum, Alecta’s chief legal officer, is leaving the Swedish pension fund, it was announced this week.

Cederbaum joined Alecta in September 2024, having joined from Säkra Spar where she was CEO.

In its brief statement on Cederbaum’s departure, Alecta said Anna Svensson, a corporate lawyer at Alecta, was taking over as acting chief legal officer from 13 April.

Aberdeen Investments – Parker Wertz has been appointed as chief financial officer for the group’s asset management business. He assumed his role in March and reports jointly to Xavier Meyer, CEO, investments, and Siobhan Boylan, group chief financial officer of Aberdeen.

With more than 20 years of experience across finance and corporate strategy, Wertz brings deep financial and operational expertise to Aberdeen. He joins from BNY where he held dual roles as head of finance for BNY International and CFO at Newton Investment Management, where he supported strategic growth initiatives and global expansion.

Earlier in his career, Wertz held senior roles at Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch in various capacities across banking, corporate strategy and chief operating officer.

RBC BlueBay Asset Management – Camilla Love has been named as head of Australia and New Zealand to lead the firm’s distribution strategy and client engagement across the region. Based in Sydney, she will report to RBC BlueBay’s head of distribution, Anthony Pickering.

Love brings over 20 years of investment management experience and a deep understanding of the market. Most recently, she founded Alpencrest Capital, overseeing third-party distribution for alternative and capacity-constrained investments as managing partner.

The foundation of Love’s career was built on her 20+ years at Perennial Partners, where she spent over five years as managing director of eInvest Australia, launching and leading Australia’s first active ETF‑only investment brand, overseeing end‑to‑end operations and managing a team.

RBC BlueBay has been present in Australia and New Zealand since 2017, however this strategic appointment represents an inflection point in the business’s commitment to the region.

European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) – Kerstin Lopatta is the new chair of the EU accounting adviser’s Sustainability Reporting Board (EFRAG SRB), effective from 1 May 2026 for a term of three years. She was nominated by the European Commission after consultation with the European Parliament and the Council and has been serving as vice chair over the past four years.

Lopatta is professor of financial accounting, auditing and sustainability at the University of Hamburg and adjunct professor at the faculty of law, economics and finance at the University of Luxembourg. Before embarking on her academic career, she worked as an audit assistant for Deloitte.

She served as an academic observer on the Sustainable Finance Committee of the German finance ministry, co-reviewed the adaptation of the German Sustainability Code to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the EU Taxonomy.

PenSam – Mette With Hagensen was appointed as the new chair of the Danish pension fund’s board at its general meeting on 9 April.

Her current roles include that of chair of the Health Council of Southwest Jutland, vice chair of the regional council in the Region of Southern Denmark, and member of the Danish Regions’ board.

At the same meeting, Per Bach Laursen and Peter Kjærgaard were elected as new members of PenSam’s board, the pension fund announced.

LBP AM – The firm is continuing its expansion in Germany with the appointment of Thorsten Goettel as Germany sales director. The appointment underpins LBP AM European private markets’ commitment to strengthening the start of a long-term presence in Germany, a strategic market for its European growth.

With more than 20 years of experience in institutional distribution, Goettel has built an extensive network among German insurers, pension funds, family offices, and funds of funds. He has established enduring relationships with key market decision-makers and possesses in-depth knowledge of complex investment solutions, particularly in private debt, infrastructure debt, and real estate debt.

More recently, Goettel has held advisory and capital-raising roles in private assets, supporting private debt and real asset strategies. Based in Frankfurt, he will lead the commercial development of LBP AM European private markets in Germany, leveraging his long-standing institutional network and his expertise among investors seeking alternative yield solutions.

Benefit Street Partners – Takeshi Yamamoto has been appointed as head of capital formation for Japan with Benefit Street Partners, a specialised private credit manager owned by Franklin Resources, Inc. He will be based in Franklin Templeton’s offices in Tokyo.

Yamamoto joins from Blue Owl Japan where he was a managing director. Prior to that, he worked in the financial institutions sales team in the asset management division at Credit Suisse Securities Japan, overseeing distribution of global credit and alternative investment strategies to Japanese investors.

He also previously worked at OCBC Bank and Credit Agricole CIB.

Schroders – The firm is enhancing its focus on meeting the increasingly complex needs of major global clients with the appointment of a head of cross border, financial institutions.

Guillaume Lendormy will oversee and drive the global client strategy for large institutions which operate across multiple markets, navigating jurisdictional and regulatory complexity.

In this newly created role, Lendormy will focus on strengthening strategic relationships, ensuring consistent engagement with the key decision-makers across relevant jurisdictions. He will dovetail with Schroders’ investment teams to ensure market insights and product capabilities are aligned with clients’ evolving needs and are responsive to emerging investment opportunities across regions.

Lendormy joins from PGIM‘s global wealth department, where he was responsible for global financial institutions across EMEA and Asia. He previously held senior global roles at Robeco, where he worked for more than a decade.

Broadstone – The consultancy has appointed Jordan Ring to strengthen its employee benefits consulting team by further deepening its expertise in the health and wellbeing markets. She brings extensive employee benefits consulting experience in the private medical insurance market.

Ring brings more than 16 years of experience in the employee benefits sector, having built a strong foundation at The Health Insurance Group, where she spent nine years developing specialist capabilities in private medical insurance.

In her new role at Broadstone, Ring will focus on delivering client-centric health and wellbeing solutions that go beyond traditional benefits provision. Working closely with SME and mid-market clients, she will support the design and delivery of strategies aligned to workforce needs and long-term organisational goals.