People moves: BT Pension Scheme appoints trustee director

BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) – Matt Davies has been appointed as trustee director, succeeding Emily Clark who, having left BT, has stepped down from the trustee board.

BTPS is one of the UK’s largest company pension schemes with more than £35bn (€41.6bn) in assets and around.258,000 members. Each year, the pension fund pays out approximately £2.8bn in pension payments to its 212,000 retired members and their beneficiaries.

Davies is chief finance officer at Openreach, a position he has held since 2017. He’s a chartered management accountant and before joining Openreach was the chief financial officer for BT Consumer. He started his career working at ITV where he trained as an accountant, before joining the finance team at Unilever.

ASCOR – The asset owner-founded initiative for Assessing Sovereign Climate-related Opportunities and Risks has appointed Claire Meier to the newly created role of investor director to drive wider industry use of and support for ASCOR research.

Meier has an extensive background in sovereign investments, working as a sovereign analyst at both Allstate Investment Group and Northern Trust Asset Management. Her most recent role was as interim head, investment managers, at Principles for Responsible Investment.

Adam Matthews, co-chair of the ASCOR investor advisory committee and chief responsible investment officer for the Church of England Pensions Board, said: “This is an extremely important appointment by ASCOR and we are thrilled to have someone of her experience and calibre.

“There are enormous opportunities for ASCOR research insights to better inform investor decision making on climate-related risks and opportunities in sovereign investments, as well as to support practically focused dialogues with government issuers. Claire will play a vital role in continuing to ensure investors have the tools and insights to make better informed investment decisions.”

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – The UK regulator has appointed Sarah Pritchard as deputy chief executive officer.

The new role has been created to reflect the FCA’s expanding remit, with the integration of the Payment Systems Regulator, regulation of stablecoin and crypto firms, as well as ‘buy now pay later’ activities.

In her new role, Pritchard will also support the FCA’s increasingly international focus, given its role supporting UK growth and competitiveness. She joined the FCA in June 2021 to jointly lead the supervision, policy and competition division. She has most recently been responsible for consumers and competition, having previously led the FCA’s markets function. 

Sarah also has executive responsibility for the FCA’s international work and personally spearheaded recent G20/Financial Stability Board work on leverage in non-bank financial institutions.

Avida International – Karen Heaven will join the Avida team as a senior consultant.

Heaven brings a rich background in pensions and investment and “will be a fantastic addition to the depth of expertise we offer our clients”, the firm said.

Throughout her career, Heaven has worked with pension schemes and their sponsors, culminating most recently in her role as managing director and chair of the investment strategy committee at Redington. She’s known for her client-first approach and deep industry insight.

Outside of her core work, Heaven sits on the Pensions Management Institute’s trustee special interest group committee and delivers talks for the social mobility charity Speakers for Schools on careers in the investment industry.

Austrian Association of Pension and Provident Funds – Andreas Zakostelsky has been elected chair for another term at the most recent meeting of the association’s committee. Zakostelsky was elected unanimously. His deputies are Andreas Csurda and Beate Wolf.

Zakostelsky currently sees the “particular need to quickly tackle” the full expansion of Austria’s second pillar pension system, which is already planned by the government, in order to sustainably secure the standard of living in old age in the future, the association stated.

“I am very pleased about this clear vote for my fourth term as chairman of the Association of Pension and Provident Funds – a task that I have been doing with great passion for years,” Zakostelsky  said.

“As the largest private pension payer in Austria, the Austrian pension funds are already a central part of the pension system. It is important that in the foreseeable future all people in Austria participate in the returns of international economic development through a pension fund pension and have a supplement for their standard of living in old age,” he added.

bfinance – The Independent investment consultancy has appointed Odi Lahav as chief operating officer.

Lahav brings more than 25 years of leadership experience across financial services, technology, and institutional consulting. He joins from Apex Group, where he served as global head of digital products, overseeing the group’s portfolio of fintech solutions across Europe, APAC, and North America.

Over the course of his career, Lahav has also advised large institutional investors across a broad range of disciplines, including investment strategy, manager research, OCIO, private markets, digital product strategy, and operational execution.

In his new role, Lahav will oversee investment research, digital solutions, and corporate functions, including technology, legal, compliance, and HR. His appointment marks a key step in aligning product, research, and delivery functions to further enhance bfinance’s innovation, operational execution, and delivery of data-driven insights for clients.

Capital Dynamics – Timo Strunkmann-Meister, senior director and head of the fund operations team at Capital Dynamics, has been appointed as chair of the International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation (IPEV) Guidelines board for the 2025-2028 term.

The IPEV Guidelines set forth globally recognised recommendations on the valuation of private capital investments, aiming to reflect current best practices. By promoting the consistent application of fair value principles, the Guidelines enhance transparency and support investors in making informed economic decisions related to private capital fund.

Strunkmann-Meister, based in Zug, Switzerland, also chairs Capital Dynamics’ global valuation committee. He brings a long-standing commitment to industry standards and governance, having been a founding member of Invest Europe’s Working Group on Accounting Standards, Valuation and Reporting, and currently serving on Invest Europe’s professional standards committee.

Trondheim kommunale pensjonskasse (TKP) – Håkon Berg Johnsen has been appointed as the new head of risk management and control at the central Norwegian municipal pension fund.

Berg Johnsen joins from Storebrand Pensjonstjenester, where he has served as actuary for five pension funds and managed risk management for four pension funds.

TKP said Berg Johnsen had solid experience working with private pension funds, but had also worked with public ones, including as actuary for Molde municipal pension fund and acting actuary for Elverum municipal pension fund.

NEST Corporation – Louise Fitzgerald has been appointed as CFO at NEST Corporation. She had been serving as interim CFO since March.

Prior to joining NEST, Fitzgerald had been CFO at British Arab Commercial Bank for three years, where she was also a trustee for its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.

Fitzgerald brings more than 25 years of experience in financial services to NEST, having had responsibility for finance and treasury functions in both investment and commercial banks, dealing in fixed income, equities, M&A, real estate, debt capital markets, trade finance and treasury products and services.

In addition to her role as CFO, she will join NEST’s trustee board.

Ian Cornelius, CEO of NEST, said: “Since joining NEST in an interim capacity in March, Louise has added immediate value, bringing new ideas and a fresh perspective to financial management, relationship building, and navigating regulatory environments – key areas for the future of NEST.”

Dalriada Trustees – The independent professional pension trustee firm has named Barbara Fewkes as head of sole trusteeship and Gill Howard as operational lead for the pensions management team.

These newly created roles form a key part of the strategy to drive future growth across our core business and reflect Dalriada’s ongoing commitment to nurture and develop talent from within the business wherever possible, the firm said.

Fewkes brings a proven track record and a deep understanding of industry dynamics to the role, with more than 22 years of experience in the pensions industry. As a senior professional trustee at Dalriada and formerly as a partner and actuary at Barnett Waddingham, her experience means that she is ideally placed to lead and grow Dalriada’s sole trusteeship offering.

Howard possesses a wealth of experience within pensions management as a senior pensions manager at Dalriada, and prior to this, holding roles at De La Rue and Mercer. Her experience has given her exceptional operational oversight, strong people management, and a genuine passion for mentoring.

In her new role, Howard will oversee the operations of the pensions management team and be focused on strengthening internal processes, supporting individual development, and shaping a clear and structured career pathway that promotes healthy and fulfilling careers for the team.

Both Fewkes and Howard’s appointments are with immediate effect.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) – As the asset management firm continues to build out its defined contribution (DC) capabilities and team globally, GSAM has announced that Tim Horne has joined the firm’s client solutions group as a managing director and head of EMEA DC.

In his new role, Horne will work closely with Chris Lyon, global head of DC, as well as leaders across the client solutions group. Horne will be tasked with building out the firm’s DC offerings across EMEA, with a particular emphasis on product development that incorporates alternatives in the UK.
 
Horne has more than 20 years of experience working in asset management, including 14 years at Schroders, where he most recently served as head of UK institutional DC and was responsible for private asset solutions in the retirement market.

Future Growth Capital (FGC) – The independent private markets solutions business formed by Phoenix Group and Schroders has deepened its investment team with the appointment of Joanne Bugg as head of manager selection, and Nick Oliver as senior manager selection analyst.

Bugg joins from the Wellcome Trust where she helped manage £39bn of public and private assets in senior roles, most recently as investment manager and trustee director of the Wellcome Trust pension plan. She is chair of the investment advisory committee at Hertford College, Oxford University, and a member of the City Guild of Investment Managers.

Bugg will lead the manager selection team at FGC, which invests across private equity, private credit, and real assets, reporting to CIO Ped Phrompechrut. In this newly created role, Bgg will oversee evaluation and due diligence processes, and work closely with the portfolio management team to execute investment strategy.

Oliver joins from Schroders where he helped manage pension solutions. He previously worked at Centrica, helping to manage its £6bn pension portfolio.  

Generali Investments – Matthias Paetzel has been named head of sales for Germany and Austria, effective 1 July.

In this role, Paetzel will be responsible for the German and Austrian markets, with a strong focus on strengthening relationships with institutional and wholesale clients. His mandate includes expanding access to the firm’s full range of capabilities, with particular emphasis on alternative asset classes and solutions but also traditional asset classes.

Paetzel will report directly to Marco Zanuso, chief sales and marketing officer at Generali Investments. Paetzel joins from Willis Towers Watson Investments, where he served as director and board member, leading client relationship management and business development across Continental Europe (excluding the UK).

With nearly two decades of experience in asset management, portfolio construction, and client advisory, Paetzel brings a deep understanding of the evolving needs of institutional investors. Earlier in his career, he held various portfolio management roles at Deutsche Asset Management (now DWS), covering a broad spectrum of asset classes, including CLOs and LDI strategies.

PrevAer – The Italian DC pension fund for employees in the air transport industry has appointed Felice Catapano as president and Tonino Muscolo as vice president.

Catapano joins from ENAV, a company that provides air traffic control services, where he served as director of strategy.

The pension fund has also elected new members to its board of directors and board of auditors, representing employees and employers. The new appointments follow a shift to a new multi-asset strategy, and a boost to investments in private markets.

Frjálsi Pension Fund – Three new members of the Icelandic pension fund’s main board were elected at its annual general meeting on 3 June.

Elín Þórðardóttir, Elías Jónatansson, Haraldur Pálsson were voted in, each for a three-year term, while Egill Örn Sigþórsson was elected for a three-year term on  Frjálsi’s alternate board.

Pemberton Asset Management – The private credit asset manager has opened a new office in New York and announced a series of senior North American appointments. The hires “mark a significant expansion” of the firm’s North American presence as well as meeting increasing demand from US and Canadian institutional investors seeking access to European mid-market opportunities.

Daniel Oudiz has been hired as managing director, NAV financing and GP solutions. He has more than 18 years of experience in structured finance and capital markets, having advised US and European private equity sponsors on bespoke capital raises as a managing director in Houlihan Lokey’s capital solutions group in New York and London.

Philip Edwards has joined as senior advisor, NAV financing and GP solutions. He joins from BlackRock, where he spent nearly a decade managing institutional client relationships and advancing the firm’s alternatives pipeline.

David Canale has been named head of Canada, business development, client group. He has over a decade of expertise in private markets. Prior to joining Pemberton, he was senior vice president and co-head of private capital formation at Further Capital Partners and has partnered with global investment managers to raise capital from Canadian institutional investors.

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