People moves: German pensions association names chair

aba – Beate Petry, chief executive officer of BASF Pensionskasse, the pension fund for the chemical company, is the new chair of the German occupational pension association.

Petry, who has been a member of the aba board since 2022, succeeds Georg Thurnes, who held the position as chair of the association since 2019. Thurnes will remain on aba’s board until the new election of the full board in May 2026.

Samir Koudhai, senior director compensation and benefits at Deutsche Lufthansa, and Werner Schneider, member of the board of SOKA-BAU, have been appointed as aba’s new executive board members, succeeding Henriette Meissner, managing director of Stuttgarter-Vorsorge-Management, and chief investment officer of SOKA-BAU Gregor Asshoff.

JP Morgan AM – Hermann Pfeifer, country head for Germany, Austria, Central and Eastern Europe, has left JP Morgan Asset Management, after just one year in the post.

Pfeifer said in a LinkedIn post that he was taking “a short professional pause to reflect, realign, and explore what’s next” after a career of more than 25 years in banking and asset management.

He had joined JP Morgan in April 2024 from Amundi, where he had been for seven years, more recently as deputy global head of sales ETF, indexing and smart beta in Paris.

Vidett – The UK professional trustee and pension governance firm has appointed four new team members to support its growth plans. The new appointments span a range of business areas, including governance, finance, technology, and business support, reinforcing the firm’s commitment to delivering excellent service to its clients.

Ieuan Solanki joins as a manager, bringing experience in pension scheme governance, scheme management, and administration. He is focused on creating tailored client solutions, ensuring successful project outcomes and collaborative partnerships.

He joins from Barnett Waddingham, where he led administration transitions, governance initiatives, and client portfolio oversight, alongside his role as chair of the firm’s DEI and wellbeing committee. He is currently a committee member for the North-East region of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI).

Lydia Kartono joins the finance team as a finance assistant. She began her career in project management at Spirit Energy working on renewable energy initiatives.

Ryan Hopewell has been appointed as technology and data assistant. He brings hands-on experience with Power BI, data analysis and system support from previous roles at the Torpedo Factory Group and ecoDriver Ltd. At Vidett, he will support the technology team, developing Power BI dashboards and reports that provide valuable insights to the wider business.

Lisa Paul joins as marketing and team support. With more than 17 years of experience in administration, management, and customer service in the retail and facilities sectors, she will provide administrative and business development support to the entire team’s operations.

AEIP – The European Association of Paritarian Institutions has appointed Roberto Silvestri as its new adviser on pensions and financial affairs.

Silvestri will coordinate Commission I on Coordinated Retirement Schemes and Commission II on Occupational Pension Funds, strengthening AEIP’s mission to shape adequate and sustainable pension policies across Europe. He has more than seven years of experience in EU financial services policy, and joins from CFA Institute where he was most latterly manager, EU policy and outreach.

Tela – Antti Tanskanen has been appointed director of the Finnish pensions alliance. Tela said Tanskanen’s appointment was part of the industry association’s preparations for the retirement of Jari Sokka, its current head of analysis operations, which is set to happen around the turn of the year 2025/2026.

Tanskanen, who will take up the new role at Tela on 1 September, currently works at the Confederation of Finnish Industries (Elinkeinoelämän keskusliitto, EK), where he is senior adviser. He is also a board member of the pension insurance company Veritas.

Telenor Pensjonskasse – Jan Erik Gjerland has been appointed by the Norwegian corporate pension fund as an asset manager. He joins the pension fund from Nordic investment bank ABG Sundal Collier, where he has been a partner and equity analyst since 2016.

Aon – Lambros Lambrou has been hired to serve as chief strategy officer for Aon.

In his new role,  Lambrou will take responsibility for key Aon executive committee initiatives core to the firm’s Aon United strategy and 3x3 Plan, including support of Aon’s “independent and connected” NFP strategy.

Aon recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the close of the NFP acquisition, which has accelerated the firm’s access to the middle market and contributed meaningfully to the firm’s performance.

Working closely with NFP CEO Doug Hammond and his leadership team, Lambrou will further reinforce points of connection that are leading to bringing the best of Aon and NFP to clients.

With this transition, the firm has initiated an internal search for Lambros’s successor as CEO of Human Capital, where he has helped drive industry-leading growth through the successful integration of the firm’s health, wealth and talent solutions.

DC Investment Forum (DCIF)– The not-for-profit research group has appointed Dave Whitehair as its new chair, and Lindsay Nickerson as vice chair. Mark Austin, the DCIF’s previous chair, will now become the immediate past chair of the group and remain on the board until the end of 2025.

Whitehair is director, institutional, at Lombard Odier Investment Managers, a fresh thinker in the world of defined contribution (DC) and a long-standing voice around the DCIF’s table. He has previously been chair of NextGen and spent over a decade at Fidelity before taking on senior business development roles at Franklin Templeton and Janus Henderson, joining Lombard Odier in recent months.

Nickerson brings the consultant’s perspective into asset management. She joined Nordea Asset Management a year and a half ago, having spent a decade at Aon, latterly as an associate partner. Passionate about responsible investment, she has helped to shape the DCIF’s soon-to-be-released Investing in the UK paper.

Dalriada Trustees – The independent professional pension trustee firm has appointed Ryan Hubley as its new sales and business development lead.

He joins from the Independent Governance Group (IGG), where he worked since 2021, most recently as business development manager. Before joining IGG, Hubley previously worked in business and client development for a range of firms in the legal sector, including K&L Gates, Dentons and Reed Smith.

Hubley is a skilled business development professional with more than eight years of experience in the legal and financial services sectors. His appointment at Dalriada will drive forward the firm’s business development capabilities, which include collaboration across the industry with existing and potential clients as well as key relationships with advisory firms.

Swedish premium pension system – The Swedish government has appointed Mikael Westberg as the special investigator for its investigation into the current forms of insurance and payment products within the first-pillar premium pension system – a probe recently backed by the all-party parliamentary Pensions Group.

Westberg, who investigated the premium pension system in 2018 and developed proposals for the procured funds marketplace that is now partially up and running, has been a justice of the Supreme Administrative Court since February. He was previously a judge of the Administrative Court of Appeal in Stockholm and head of legal affairs at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan).

The investigation assignment has been given a deadline of 15 August 2026.

Fiera Capital Corporation – The firm has appointed Maxime Ménard as global president and chief executive officer, effective 1 July. Jean-Guy Desjardins, founder of Fiera Capital and executive chair of the board, will continue to provide strategic oversight, shaping the firm’s investment philosophy and steering global asset allocation across public markets and multi-asset solutions.

Since joining Fiera Capital in January 2024 as president and CEO of Fiera Canada and Global Private Wealth, Ménard has played a central role in stabilising operations and aligning teams around a shared culture of accountability and performance. He brings a deep understanding of the global investment landscape and a strong track record of building trusted client relationships.

Prior to joining Fiera, Ménard spent nearly two decades at Jarislowsky Fraser, including five years as president and CEO.

Additionally, Gabriel Castiglio, executive director, global chief legal officer and corporate secretary, has been appointed executive director and global chief operating officer. He will work closely with Ménard to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the firm’s operating model, oversee global operations, and foster alignment across teams to drive scalable growth.

Lucas Pontillo, executive director and global chief financial officer, will also lead corporate strategy, expanding his current mandate. In his role as executive director, global CFO and head of corporate strategy, he will work closely with Ménard to shape the firm’s strategic direction and accelerate strategic execution to better position the firm for growth.

Both have been part of Fiera’s executive team for over five years, bringing deep institutional knowledge and leadership continuity. These changes are effective 1 July 2025, and Castiglio and Pontillo will report directly to Ménard.

This leadership transition follows the firm’s multi-year transformation into a regionally empowered organisation. With its new structure now fully implemented, Fiera Capital is focused on expanding its investment capabilities, strengthening operational discipline, and deepening client relationships across public and private markets.

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