Law Debenture, Santander, APG, Montae, Shell, Franklin Templeton, Martin Currie, KPMG, ICI Global, BMO GAM, NILGOSC, Hymans Robertson

Law Debenture/Santander – The financial services group has hired Santander’s pension director Brian Kilpatrick as a trustee director within its independent trustee business. He was previously acting director of pensions for the UK arm of the Spanish bank, having taken over from Anthony Barker, who left last year.

Before joining the Santander pension scheme, he worked at the group’s asset management arm advising institutional clients on investment strategy. He was previously head of investments at UK high street chain Marks & Spencer for approximately 10 years, and was latterly head of the Marks and Spencer Pension Trust. He also has experience working in the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Michael Chatterton, managing director of LawDeb Pensions Trustees, said: “Brian’s experience in managing pension schemes in both the financial service and retail sectors mean he will hit the ground running, delivering value to his clients from the outset. An expert understanding of investment strategy is increasingly a core skill for trustees and one of which Brian has an abundance.”


APGBart Le Blanc has stepped down as chairman of the supervisory board (RvC) of APG Group as of 22 July. He has been on the RvC since 2014, and has completed his term as scheduled. Until a successor is appointed, Pieter Jongstra, the RvC’s vice-chair, will temporarily carry out his tasks. Le Blanc remains a member of the RvC of APG Asset Management where he started as chair on 22 July.


MontaeJanwillem Bouma is to join Dutch pensions consultancy Montae as a partner as of 15 September. Bouma, who has been director of the two pension funds of Shell Netherlands since 2010, will become responsible for modernising collective pensions provision in the wake of Montae’s co-operation with Swedish fintech firm Söderberg & Partners.

Bouma joined Shell in 1987 and has held several operational and financial management positions at the energy giant. He has been chairman of industry organisation PensionsEurope since 2015.


Franklin Templeton Investments – The US asset manager has hired Andrew Ness as a portfolio manager within its emerging markets equity division, effective from 17 September. He will join the team running the UK-listed Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust alongside lead manager Chetan Sehgal.

Ness joins from Martin Currie’s global emerging markets team, and has previously held similar roles at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and Deutsche Asset Management.

Franklin Templeton has been rebuilding and growing its emerging markets team in recent months following the departure of Mark Mobius, who left to set up his own investment company, taking fellow managers Carlos Hardenburg and Greg Konieczny with him.


Martin Currie – Meanwhile, Martin Currie has moved quickly to replace the departing Ness with the appointment of Paul Sloane to its global emerging markets team from 13 August. Sloane previously worked on Martin Currie’s global equity team before leaving for the charity sector last year when his fund was shut down.


KPMGJorge Morley-Smith has joined the accounting and consultancy giant from the Investment Association (IA), the UK’s asset management trade body. In his new role, Morley-Smith is a director in KPMG’s asset management tax team.

At the IA he was head of tax for six years, before becoming the association’s lead on Brexit negotiations. Morley-Smith said: “The issues surrounding tax and the investment industry more broadly are constantly evolving, both locally and globally. I look forward to helping clients understand and keep pace with that change.”


Investment Company Institute (ICI) – The US-based asset management organisation has named Patrice Bergé-Vincent as the managing director of its global division from the start of next year. He will replace Dan Waters, who is retiring after seven years in the role, the ICI said.

Bergé-Vincent has been managing director for ICI Global in Europe since April 2015. He was previously a partner with PwC France in its asset management division, and has also led asset management regulation at the French financial regulator Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).

In addition, Alexa Lam, a former senior official at Hong Kong’s financial regulator, has been appointed chief executive officer for ICI Global’s Asia Pacific division, effective 1 October. She is currently a professor in the law faculty at the University of Hong Kong, and will succeed Qiumei Yang.


BMO Global Asset Management – The fund management arm of the Bank of Montreal has hired Anne Coupe to the newly created role of head of global consultant relations. She will be responsible for expanding the company’s engagement with leading global investment consultants as it seeks to grow its global institutional business.

Coupe was previously head of consultant relations at UBS, and has also worked for companies including Deutsche Bank, William Blair and JP Morgan Chase.


NILGOSC – Northern Ireland’s department for communities has extended the term of appointment of Trevor Salmon as chair of the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee, which oversees the £4bn Local Government Pension Scheme in Northern Ireland.

Committee members Joseph Donaghy, Bumper Graham and Celine McCartan have also had their second term of appointment extended from 1 July 2018 to 31 December 2018. They have all served on the Committee since July 2009. Lindsay Todd, who joined the committee in May 2013, has been reappointed for a four-year term from 1 July 2018 until 30 June 2022.


Hymans Robertson Gary Evans has been appointed head of the consultancy’s third-party administration practice. He has held a number of senior operational and client management roles, most recently at Mercer and prior to that at PwC and Willis Towers Watson.

Evans sits on the board of the Pensions Administration Standards Association and is currently leading an industry wide review of the DB transfer process. He was also involved in drafting the original industry guidance on pension scams and developing industry standards for DC transfers.