People moves: Pensions UK adds quartet to board

Pensions UK – The organisation has appointed four new member non-executive directors to its board. The new appointments will strengthen Pensions UK’s governance and bring new expertise from across the pensions industry.

Rachel Brothwood has been appointed chair of Pensions UK’s policy board, succeeding John Chilman, who will continue to serve on the Pensions UK board until the end of his term in October 2027. Brothwood is executive director of West Midlands Pension Fund, one of the UK’s largest local government pension schemes. She brings extensive experience of public sector pensions, investment governance and policy development.

Patrick Heath-Lay has served as chief executive officer of People’s Partnership since 2012, leading one of the UK’s largest workplace pension providers and overseeing significant growth in membership and assets under management.

David Lane is CEO of TPT Retirement Solutions. He has more than 35 years of experience across the UK financial services and pensions sectors, including over a decade at TPT, and brings deep industry expertise and insight into the UK workplace pensions landscape.

Katharine Photiou is managing director of workplace savings at Legal & General (L&G), responsible for one of the UK’s largest workplace pensions businesses. With more than 30 years of experience across pensions and employee benefits, she has held senior leadership roles across the industry and is a recognised advocate for improving retirement outcomes.

The appointments follow a recruitment process to refresh and strengthen the board as long-serving directors reach the end of their maximum terms. Carol Young, CEO of Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), will step down in October 2026. Adding expertise and seniority across all scheme types, including new innovations in collective defined contribution (CDC) and super funds, the additions to the board reflect Pensions UK’s commitment to ensuring its governance continues to represent the breadth of the UK pensions industry.

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership – The UK-based investment pool has appointed Chris Cooper as its new head of real estate.

Cooper brings over 30 years of experience in real estate and a deep understanding of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), joining from specialist real estate investment and asset manager DTZ Investors, where he was global CEO following a 34-year tenure with the organisation.

Aon – Fabian Bohnert has been hired as EMEA managing director of life solutions, strategy and technology group, the firm announced.

In this role, Bohnert will lead life solutions, including the firm’s PathWise platform, across Germany and the DACH region, overseeing advisory, capital and technology strategy to help clients address complex business priorities, build resilience and pursue profitable growth.

Based in Stuttgart, and reporting to Ka Hei Choi, UK and EMEA managing director, life risk modelling, strategy and technology group for Aon, Bohnert will also serve as UK and EMEA head of PathWise AI, where he will drive the development of AI-enabled consulting and solution offerings for life and annuity clients across the region.

Bohnert joins Aon from KPMG, where he served as a director in its actuarial consulting practice. He brings extensive experience advising clients across Germany and the DACH region. Prior to KPMG, he served as a director at professional services firm EY.

Separately, the firm has also announced a new leadership and governance structure for its reinsurance solutions business in Germany. Under the new structure, Phillip Esser has been appointed CEO of reinsurance solutions in Germany for Aon, based in Hamburg.

Esser brings extensive reinsurance experience, strong client relationships and deep knowledge of the market to the role. He will build on the strong foundations of Aon’s business in Germany and lead its next phase of development, with a continued focus on client value, growth and collaboration across the firm’s integrated capabilities.

Volker Wahl will become executive chair of reinsurance solutions in Germany for Aon, bringing 36 years of reinsurance industry experience, including almost 25 years at Aon, together with deep market expertise and senior leadership support as the business enters its next phase. In his new role, Wahl will work closely with Esser and the firm’s management team in Germany to strengthen client relationships, support talent development and help accelerate growth across the business.

These appointments strengthen Aon’s continuity across the firm’s reinsurance business in Germany while preserving clear access to local expertise, specialist teams and the breadth of the firm’s global capabilities.

The changes are part of a planned succession process following the retirement plan for Jan-Oliver Thofern, who will retire on 1 January 2027. Thofern, who has contributed more than 30 years to Aon, will support the business through the remainder of 2026 as advisor to Esser. His leadership has helped shape Aon’s reinsurance business in Germany, strengthened client relationships and enhanced the firm’s market capabilities and reputation.

M&G Investments – Gad Amar has been named as head of Europe, Middle East and Africa client group, strengthening M&G’s client group leadership and supporting the firm’s growth ambitions in Europe. He will report to Neil Godfrey, global head of client group.

Amar will join in November to lead M&G’s distribution activities across Continental Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with country heads reporting to him. Based in Paris, the newly created role will improve collaboration between the distribution and investment teams.

He brings more than 25 years of experience in asset management distribution, product strategy and business development, most recently as head of Western Europe at Natixis Investment Managers, having also held senior international leadership roles at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, BlackRock and JP Morgan Asset Management.

Janus Henderson Investors – The firm has announced two senior investment appointments that will further deepen its leadership across its global equities franchise. Helen Jewell will join as head of EMEA and Asia Pacific equities on 1 December, while Shilpee Raina will join as lead portfolio manager of the flagship large cap growth fund, Janus Henderson Forty, as well as the Transformational Growth ETF (JXX), working with current portfolio manager Brian Recht.

Jewell succeeds Lucas Klein, who is retiring from the asset management industry after nearly three decades in the financial and professional services industries. Jewell will be responsible for leading equity portfolio management and research teams in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions for Janus Henderson. She will also join the firm’s executive committee.

Jewell joins from BlackRock, where she was most recently international CIO, fundamental equities, with responsibility for investment oversight including research, investment process, portfolio manager talent, and external market engagement across the firm’s non-US fundamental active equity platform.

Raina will join the firm on 1 January 2027 and will be based in New York. She succeeds portfolio manager Nick Schommer, who will be departing Janus Henderson after 13 years with the firm.

Aberdeen Investments – Caroline Hertrich has been recruited as head of UK and EMEA ETF Strategy, a newly created leadership role to support the growth of the firm’s ETF franchise across the UK and EMEA.

The appointment builds on the progress of Aberdeen’s ETF business in the US, which has around $21bn in assets under management, having doubled in size during 2025.

Hertrich joins with more than 15 years of experience spanning ETFs, index investing and investment solutions across EMEA and the US. She joins from Bloomberg, where she served as index sales lead for UK and Ireland buy-side clients, and helped expand the firm’s index footprint across asset classes. Prior to Bloomberg, she held senior leadership positions at FTSE Russell and BlackRock, where she played a key role in ETF product strategy, distribution, and client engagement across European markets.

Throughout her career, she has worked with asset managers, insurers, and institutional investors to develop and implement investment solutions. Her experience includes product lifecycle management for BlackRock’s EMEA investment offerings and pioneering the use of ETFs with institutional clients.

Capital Markets Industry Taskforce (CMIT) – The taskforce has announced the appointment of two new members: Carolyn Dawson, CEO of Founders Forum Group, and Phil Parkinson, president and CEO of Marsh People & Investments UK.

The appointments strengthen CMIT’s representation across the UK’s capital markets ecosystem. They will support its work to increase capital flows to UK companies across private and public markets, and advocate for UK pension reform.

Dawson joins CMIT to represent the voice of scale-up companies. As CEO of Founders Forum Group, she oversees a global community and portfolio of businesses supporting entrepreneurs, including Tech Nation, whose relaunch she spearheaded under the group’s umbrella.

Parkinson joins CMIT with significant experience across investment and retirement. He has been president and CEO of Marsh People & Investments UK (formerly Mercer UK) since March 2026. Before this, he served as UK wealth business leader with responsibility for the firm’s investments and retirement business.

Vontobel – As part of its growth ambitions in the insurance sector, a strategic focus area for its institutional clients business, Vontobel has appointed Emmanuel Archampong as head of insurance solutions, based in London.

In this role, Archampong will lead the expansion of the firm’s insurance advisory, origination, and specialist capabilities across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, leveraging Vontobel’s broad expertise in fixed income, solutions, and private markets to deliver tailored investment solutions for insurers.

Prior to joining Vontobel, Archampong was head of sales, UK institutional and insurance, at Columbia Threadneedle Investments.

Broadstone – The UK-based consultancy has appointed Ben Reyer as principal consultant – business protection within its employee benefits consulting division. The appointment marks further expansion of Broadstone’s health and risk proposition with a senior hire in its consulting team.

Reyer joins Broadstone from Towergate Health & Protection – now Everywhen – where he has spent more than 15 years, most recently as business development manager within its business protection team.

Investment Association (IA) – Three directors have been elected to the board of directors following the association’s annual general meeting (AGM) this week. The board of directors oversees the IA’s activity and is made up of senior leaders from across the industry.

Elected to the board are:

• Emma Crystal, CEO, private banking and wealth management, of NatWest;
• Ouajnat Karim, CEO, UK, of BNP Paribas Asset Management (elected for the first time following appointment to the board earlier in the year);
• Richard Oldfield, group CEO of Schroders.

The new directors replace Paul Geddes of Evelyn Partners, and Rachel Elwell, of Border to Coast, who have stepped down from the board.