People moves: Universities Superannuation Scheme chairs to stand down

Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) – Kate Barker will stand down as chair of USS in July 2027, just shy of completing her final term, as part of carefully scheduled succession planning.

Barker became a USS director on 1 April 2020 and has been chair since September 2020. She is also a member of the trustee’s investment committee and governance and nominations committee (GNC).

She said in a statement: “Appointing my successor over the coming year, while we complete the scheme’s current valuation, will afford [USS] the maximum amount of time to establish [itself] before the scheme’s next valuation is due in 2029.”

A considered and comprehensive appointment process will now commence, with an online advertisement and engagement of a recruitment firm. USS expects to be in a position to confirm Barker’s successor in early 2027.

Additionally, USS will also see Sarah Bates stand down as chair of the USS Investment Management (USSIM) board at the end of this year – a post she has held since September 2021. Bates served on USS’s investment committee between 2013 and 2021.

Following a comprehensive process conducted by the GNC, Rita Bajaj will be joining the USSIM board as a director on 1 October 2026 and, subject to approval by the Financial Conduct Authority, will become its chair on 1 January 2027.

Bajaj is a highly experienced financial services professional who has held a number of roles at board and executive level throughout her career. The timing of the appointment will allow for a managed handover period between Bates and Bajaj.

PFZW – Cateautje Hijmans van den Bergh will succeed Joanne Kellermann as chair of Dutch healthcare pension fund PFZW.

Van den Bergh currently chairs the supervisory board of NLV, the real estate asset manager of pension funds PMT and Rail & OV, in addition to several other non-executive roles.

Between 2015 and 2016, she worked as a director at pension administrator APG, following a long career at consultancy Boer & Croon.

Investor Forum – Katherine Garrett-Cox, the former CEO and chief investment officer of Alliance Trust, has been appointed the incoming chair of the stewardship organisation, succeeding Michael McLintock as of the beginning of September.

Founded in 2014, the Investor Forum takes a low-profile approach to positioning stewardship at the heart of investment decision-making, including by facilitating dialogue with companies.

Garrett-Cox has more than 36 years of experience in the asset management industry. She currently serves as CEO of Gulf International Bank (UK) Ltd and chair of both the Clean Air Fund and the CDP.

The work of the Investor Forum is now complemented by that of the Investor & Issuer Forum, which was launched in September 2024 to reduce “points of friction” in the UK equity market.

NOW: Pensions – Daniel Godfrey has been appointed to the board of trustee directors and investment committee of NOW: Pensions.

In this role, Godfrey will support NOW: Pensions’ trustee board in delivering independent governance, helping the master trust to continue to act in the best interests of its members and deliver positive long-term retirement outcomes.

Godfrey has nearly four decades of experience in the pensions and investment management industries. He currently serves as chair of the Financial Conduct Authority’s advisers’ sustainability group and is a member of the Legal & General independent governance committee.

Godfrey’s appointment reflects NOW: Pensions’ ongoing commitment to maintaining a highly-experienced trustee board, with the skills and expertise needed to support members throughout their retirement savings journey.

He joins chair Joanne Segars and five others as members of the trustee board. 

Broadstone – The UK-based consultancy has appointed Daniel Murdoch as director in its growing banking and credit advisory division.

Murdoch joins from Coventry Building Society, where he was head of credit model integration. He brings significant experience in risk modelling and an internal-risk-based (IRB) approach from across the banking and credit markets, having worked previously at Nationwide, Lloyds Banking Group, TSB Bank and Virgin Money.

At Broadstone, Murdoch leads IRB, capital management and model risk engagements, with responsibility for regulatory assessment, model design, development, validation, Pillar 2 and broader model risk strategy.

Natixis Investment Managers – The asset management group has appointed Léa Dunand-Chatellet as chief executive officer of Mirova, its affiliate dedicated to sustainable investing. She will succeed Philippe Zaouati.

With more than 20 years of experience in sustainable investing, Dunand-Chatellet has worked for various asset management firms, including more than a decade within Natixis IM, first at Mirova and subsequently at DNCA Finance. She is widely recognised for her long-standing commitment to the development of sustainable finance and actively contributes to industry working groups, notably with the AMF (French Financial Markets Authority), the AFG (French Asset Management Association), and the French Ministry of the Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty.

Dunand-Chatellet’s leadership in sustainable finance, industry recognition, and deep knowledge of the Group will be major assets in driving Mirova’s growth and expansion, the firm stated. Her mission will be to lead Mirova into its next phase of development. She will focus on strengthening its international reach in sustainable investing and leveraging the unique complementarity of its listed and private asset expertise to benefit clients.

MFS Investment Management – Henry Odogwu has been hired as senior managing director, institutional sales for EMEA.

In his role, Odogwu will lead MFS’s institutional sales strategy across EMEA, overseeing business development efforts and client engagement across key markets in the region. He will be responsible for managing the EMEA institutional sales team, strengthening relationships with institutional investors and consultants, identifying new growth opportunities, and coordinating sales activity across markets to support the firm’s long-term strategic objectives.

Odogwu joins from BlackRock, where he began in 2020 and most recently served as head of UK professional trustee relations. During his time there, he also held senior positions as head of UK DB sales and Head of UK institutional sales for the iShares & Wealth business. Prior to BlackRock, he spent four years at FTSE Russell as head of Continental Europe & European asset owner sales, and earlier in his career he held a role covering multi-asset risk analytics and EMEA institutional client coverage at MSCI. He has more than 25 years of experience in the asset management industry.

Based in MFS’s London office, Odogwu will report to Topher Callahan, co-head of global institutional, and work closely with the leadership of the EMEA institutional sales and relationship management teams. He succeeds Lars Detlefs, senior managing director of sales for EMEA, who retired in April this year.

Festina Finance – The European provider of pension administration technology has strengthened its UK team with the appointment of Kevin Jones as UK pensions technical lead.

The appointment marks a further step in the firm’s continued investment in the UK market, as demand grows amongst administrators and schemes for technology that can support more complex and evolving pension arrangements, across defined benefit (DB), defined contribution (DC) and collective defined contribution (CDC).

Jones will play a central role in developing Festina Finance’s UK offering, supporting clients and partners with the implementation of modern pension solutions and strengthening the firm’s technical capability as it continues to grow its UK team.

Jones has worked in the pensions industry since 2015, holding roles at WTW, Equiniti, Heywood, Prudential and EQ. He has strong technical expertise across pension systems and administration, with a particular focus on implementation, calculations and technical delivery.

Universal Investment Group – The asset management firm has hired Gareth Myburgh as head of ETF platform solutions, further strengthening its ETF capabilities as demand for scalable ETF solutions continues to grow across Europe.

In the newly created role, Myburgh will lead the continued development and commercial expansion of the ETF platform business and further develop Universal Investment’s White Label ETF proposition. Drawing on his ETF experience, he will be responsible for expanding the firm’s ETF platform proposition, supporting clients across Ireland, Luxembourg and Germany, and helping asset managers access scalable, end-to-end ETF launch and servicing solutions.

Myburgh brings more than 25 years of experience across asset servicing and ETF products, joining from Citi, where he spent eight years. He most recently served as head of platform solutions for Citi Velocity ETF.

Based in Dublin, Myburgh will report to Ronan Doyle, chief product officer at Universal Investment.

Aon – Laura Jackson has joined the independent trustee board of The Aon MasterTrust.

Jackson is currently a consultant supporting clients in the fields of employee health and wellbeing. She previously spent over 20 years with Credit Suisse, in roles including global head of benefits strategy and EMEA head of benefits, pensions, payroll and wellbeing. She was also a trustee on Credit Suisse’s UK and overseas pension arrangements.

Sacker & Partners – The UK-based pensions law firm has appointed Michael Jones as a partner. He joins from Eversheds Sutherland.

Jones trained and qualified at Linklaters. He moved to Pinsent Masons before becoming a partner at Eversheds Sutherland in 2021. He is named as a next-generation partner in Legal 500 and is well known in the market as a frequent commentator and speaker on DC issues.