People moves: Finnish Tela chief resigns after 14 years

Tela – Suvi-Anne Siimes, chief executive officer of earnings-related pension insurers Tela, is stepping down from her position, after 14 years at the helm.

Siimes resigned from her job on her own initiative in September 2025 and her employment will end in the summer of 2026, Tela announced.

“I want to live a more open life and spend more time with my spouse and loved ones. That’s not possible with a job with such a schedule,” Siimes explained as reasons for her decision.

“My intention is to start a company and do some work for myself, if there is a use for my skills. However, my main goal is to find time for a calmer pace of life. Now was the right time for both Tela and myself to make this decision,” she added.

Tela’s board of directors has launched a search process for Siimes’ successor. Piia-Noora Kauppi, a partner at Odgers Berndtson, a consulting firm specialising in executive recruitment, is in charge of the process.

Legal & General (L&G) – Gareth Mee has been appointed as CEO of institutional retirement for L&G.

Institutional Retirement is L&G’s largest business, with the group’s total global annuity book standing at an estimated £96bn (€110bn) as at half year 2025. As one of the UK’s longest-standing active bulk annuity provider, L&G has a stated ambition to write £50-65bn in UK pension risk transfers (PRT) over 2024-2028.

Mee is currently L&G’s chief investment officer for institutional retirement. He joined L&G in 2022 as chief financial officer of L&G Capital, and led its integration with Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) to create the group’s asset management division.

In his time with the business, Mee has played a central role in developing several significant commercial relationships, including attracting third-party capital towards the group’s direct investments, and most recently helping to shape the long-term strategic growth partnerships with Blackstone and Meiji Yasuda.

Mee’s appointment will be effective from 1 December 2025, when the current CEO, Andrew Kail, will be appointed as group CFO (subject to regulatory approval). Mee will also join L&G’s group management committee.

People’s Partnership – The provider of the People’s Pension has appointed Richard Dallas as a non-executive director of People’s Partnership Limited (PPL).

Dallas will be joining the PPL board to help support the continued growth and strategic development of the People Partnership Group, including the People’s Pension.

With a distinguished 30-year executive career, Dallas brings deep commercial, product, and technology expertise from across pensions, financial services and fintech. Known for driving growth, new business models and transformation, he has successfully navigated major regulatory and industry changes at prominent companies, including Smart Pension, Aegon, Lloyds Banking Group, Sage Group, and Charles Schwab Inc.

Broadstone – The independent UK consultancy has named Kelly Parsons as head of DC proposition.

Parsons joins from Mercer Marsh Benefits where she led a team of benefit consultants advising employers on pensions, as well as group risk and healthcare.

Parsons brings more than 24 years of extensive experience in pensions and employee benefits with particular expertise in team management, proposition development and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and growth. Her previous roles include client servicing and business development at Arthur J Gallagher, as well as consulting on group and executive pensions at JLT/Alexander Forbes.

At Broadstone, Parsons will develop and innovate the defined contribution (DC) pension proposition to meet evolving client and market needs, enhance financial education initiatives to improve member engagement and oversee provider research to ensure the delivery of market-leading solutions. She will lead and expand a high-performing team dedicated to client service and business expansion.

The creation of this role reflects Broadstone’s significant recent growth as well as its ambitions to build further momentum in its employee benefits consulting division.

Swiss Life Asset Managers – Tim Munn and Eduardo Illitsch are taking over as co-CEOs of the firm’s UK business on 1 January 2026. They succeed Giles King, who will retire and hand over the leadership as CEO.

Munn, with 27 years of experience in real estate investment management, joined Swiss Life AM UK in 2020 and has since served as CIO. Prior to this, he spent over two decades at CBRE Investment Management, where he held several senior positions.

In his new role, Munn will continue to act as CIO of Swiss Life AM UK alongside his co-CEO responsibility, bringing continuity, depth of market knowledge and long-standing client relationships to the leadership team.

Illitsch, with 31 years of international financial industry experience, has been with Swiss Life AM since 2018 and head of international sales since 2020. Before joining the firm, he held senior roles at JP Morgan Asset Management and Credit Suisse.

As co-CEO at Swiss Life AM, he will be responsible for sales, joint ventures, and the further development of the UK business into new growth areas, while continuing in his role as head of international sales at Swiss Life AM.

Independent Governance Group (IGG) – The UK’s provider of professional pensions trusteeship and governance services has appointed Jeremy Petty as director for like minds, its creative communications brand, and agency that specialises in employee engagement, specifically in relation to pensions and benefits, financial wellbeing and reward.

Petty’s appointment marks a new era for like minds, allowing current managing director Jude Groves, who has led the agency for over 10 years, to take a well-earned step back from the business. Since its acquisition by IGG in May 2023, the agency has increased revenue by nearly 30% and continues to grow strongly, it stated.

Petty has more than 25 years of experience in the communications and engagement space. He joins from employee engagement and communications consultancy scarlettabbott, where he held the role of CEO, following roles as managing director and head of client services for the firm, over his 12-year tenure.

T Rowe Price – The $1.68trn global asset manager has announced that Nataline Terry has been named head of EMEA distribution, with effect from 1 January 2026.

Terry will succeed Nick Trueman, who has decided to leave the firm at the end of 2025 to create a better structure around his family responsibilities and work commitments.

Terry brings more than 20 years of asset management experience to the role, including positions at BlackRock, UBS, and Columbia Threadneedle. Since joining T Rowe Price in 2017 as head of EMEA marketing, she has played a pivotal role in expanding the firm’s local marketing capabilities across the region. In 2022, she transitioned to head of UK & Ireland distribution, where she has delivered strong leadership and strategic clarity, driving commercial success through initiatives such as key intermediary partnerships and the successful UK launch of the US Structured Research fund.

As head of EMEA distribution, Terry will continue to lead the distribution teams for the UK, Ireland, and EMEA platforms.

Canada Life – The firm has appointed Dominic Carpenter as commercial and strategy director, bulk purchase annuities (BPA).

In this new role, Carpenter will lead the commercial development of Canada Life’s bulk annuities business and drive initiatives across commercial strategy, reinsurance and pricing to support its BPA growth ambitions.

Carpenter joins from Phoenix Group, where he most recently served as group capital director. He also spent 10 years at Legal & General as group capital director and head of reinsurance and structuring for the BPA business.

MainStreet Partners – After more than 17 years leading the company, its founder, Rodolfo Fracassi, has decided to step down as CEO.

Since 2008 Fracassi has led MainStreet Partners from a start-up to a European sustainability leader with over 55 professionals, establishing a proprietary platform, ESGeverything.com, in the process, which has been adopted by leading asset managers, wealth managers and financial institutions.

Neill Blanks will take over as CEO. With more than 20 years of experience in financial services, including senior roles at Schroders and Dalton Strategic Partnership, Blanks brings a unique combination of financial expertise and sustainability know-how.

Since he joined MainStreet Partners in 2020, Blanks has been instrumental in driving the expansion of the Funds Ratings business, reinforcing the firm’s leadership in data quality and methodological rigour.

CFA Institute – The global association of investment professionals has appointed Eliot Pikoulis as chief information officer, reporting directly to Margaret Franklin, president and CEO of CFA Institute.

Pikoulis has more than two decades of global technology leadership experience, with a proven track record of driving enterprise transformation, digital modernisation, and customer-centric innovation. He joins CFA Institute after more than 20 years at Pearson, where he most recently served as chief technology executive.

Throughout his career, Pikoulis has led large teams across the US, UK, India, Canada, and Australia, and has built strong partnerships with leading technology providers. 

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