People moves: Fulcrum AM creates new chief strategy officer role

Fulcrum Asset Management – Sara Rejal has been appointed as chief strategy officer, reporting to CIO Suhail Shaikh.

The new role has been created to provide strategic support to the CIO, drive revenue growth and strengthen the firm’s leadership, Fulcrum announced.

Rejal joins Fulcrum after more than 11 years at WTW, where she was head of liquid diversifying research responsible for research and allocations in hedge fund, alternative beta, insurance-linked and multi-asset strategies.

She was also a member of several investment committees overseeing institutional client allocations across all asset classes. Prior to this, Rejal was a hedge fund strategist at HSBC.

Achmea – The firm has hired Lennaert van Anken as its new director of pension buyouts.

Van Anken will start his new job on 1 December, joining from Achmea’s competitor Athora where he was working in a similar role.

Van Anken’s appointment comes shortly after the start of Achmea’s new life insurance joint venture with Sixth Street, which is aiming for a 20% market share on the Dutch market for pension fund buyouts.

Stichting Philips Pensioenfonds – Martin Sanders has joined the Dutch Philips pension fund as its new CIO.

Sanders joins from AXA Investment Management, where his job as head of pension investments was made redundant after the firm was acquired by BNP Paribas Asset Management earlier this year.

Previously, Sanders worked as CIO of Univest for 11 years.

Aon – Simon Chisholm has been named chair of Asia for Aon’s reinsurance solutions, effective 1 January 2026.

Based in Singapore, Chisholm will report to Soeren Soltysiak, CEO of reinsurance solutions in Asia, and will have a continued focus on deepening relationships with key clients in Japan and Thailand.

Additionally, Byron Beebe has been appointed as CEO of human capital to lead Aon’s integrated health, wealth and alent solutions, reporting to Andy Marcell, CEO of global solutions.

Beebe will join the Aon executive committee with responsibility for driving the development of innovative solutions. He will work closely with Aon Business Services to accelerate the delivery of human capital data and analytics and new client offerings that help Aon’s clients make better decisions.

With over 30 years at Aon, Beebe most recently served as the global chief commercial officer in human capital.

Oryx Global Partners – The investment firm dedicated to securing supply chains and facilitating the energy transition through strategic investments in the minerals value chain, today announced the appointment of industry leaders Damian Pearson and Peter Nicholson as partners.

Pearson is a senior investment and finance executive with more than 20 years of experience in investment management, M&A, and financing the energy and commodities sectors, while Nicholson is an investment veteran and mining engineer with 30 years’ experience across the minerals sector and private equity.

Both have joined Oryx’s senior leadership team as partners, bringing their long track records of experience making strategic investments, providing operational oversight, and creating value in the minerals sector.

Fidelity International – Paul Heselden has been appointed to the newly created role of head of strategic relationship management for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).

Heselden has been with Fidelity since 2000 and was previously a sales director responsible for distribution in the wholesale UK market.

Broadstone – The UK-based consultancy has appointed Andrew Walton as an actuarial director.

With nearly 20 years of experience in the pensions industry, Walton brings a wealth of expertise as a scheme actuary and a proven track record helping clients achieve their pension endgame objectives.

Throughout his career Walton has worked alongside trustees and corporate sponsors on all aspects of scheme management including journey planning, member option exercises, valuation strategy, and GMP equalisation.

In addition to advising trustees and sponsors on business-as-usual matters, he has led full scheme buyouts and wind-ups through to successful completion.

Walton will be based across both Broadstone’s newly opened central Birmingham office and the established Redditch office. As well as his direct client-facing role, Walton will be helping to further develop Broadstone’s consulting offering and services, including in relation to GMP equalisation.

Better Society Capital (BSC) – The UK-based social impact investor has appointed Michelle Ashworth and John Bromley as non-executive directors and members of its investment committee.

Both will play a key role in supporting BSC’s investment strategy and governance, helping to grow the amount of capital invested to tackle social issues across the UK.

Ashworth brings more than 25 years of experience in venture capital and institutional investment. She is founder and managing partner of Silver How Venture Advisory, established in 2025 to help institutional investors navigate the global venture landscape.

She previously served as a partner at Top Tier Capital Partners, leading European investment and fundraising activity, and as head of venture at the Church Commissioners for England, where she built a global programme of fund investments.

Bromley is a senior leader in sustainable investment with more than two decades of experience in infrastructure, clean energy and climate finance. Until May 2025, he was managing director of clean energy and climate at Legal & General, where he led equity investments in clean technology and renewable infrastructure. He was previously CIO at Triodos Investment Management.

SEI – Emma Skedgel has been appointed as sales director of defined contribution (DC), responsible for building and deepening relationships with clients whose employees benefit from the SEI Master Trust.

Skedgel most recently served as business development director at Legal & General Asset Management and previously held leadership roles at Isio, KPMG, Barclays Wealth Management, and Punter Southall (now known as XPS Pensions Group).

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