UK - The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has revealed Alan Rubenstein will replace Partha Dasgupta as the next PPF chief executive.

Rubenstein will take on the role from 1 April 2009, but prior to joining the PPF he had worked as a managing director of Lehman Brothers and was responsible for establishing the firm's Pensions Advisory Group, until the firm ran into trouble in September.

Rubenstein is also a qualified actuary and sits on the management board of the Actuarial Profession, as well as being a council member of the Faculty of Actuaries, a former vice-chairman of the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) and is currently chair of its investment council.

After qualifying as an actuary with Scottish Widows he joined the investment banking industry as a senior executive with BZW Asset Management, Lucas Varity Fund Management and Morgan Stanley.

His appointment follows Dasgupta's announcement in August 2008 that he planned to step down as chief executive in search of "fresh challenges", having worked at the PPF since 2005. (See earlier IPE article: PPF's CEO to step down)

Dasgupta had originally agreed to stay on until June 2009 to allow the PPF board enough time to find a successor, however a PPF spokeswoman confirmed because the Board was able to make an early appointment, "Partha has agreed to stand down as chief executive and PPF board member on 31 March 2009".

That said, the PPF said Dasgupta would support Rubenstein in his new role, "helping to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities", but would report directly to the board until his last day on 21 June 2009.

Joanne Segars, chief executive of the NAPF, said: "We warmly welcome Alan's appointment - he has a wealth of investment and pensions experience, which will be invaluable over the coming months and years.  He is well-respected amongst the pensions community and has been chairman of the NAPF's Investment Council. We are looking forward to working with him."

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