Chris Sier, best known for his work around cost transparency in the UK pension industry and founder of ClearGlass, has died aged 58 after a long battle with colon cancer, diagnosed in 2023.
Sier began his career as a police officer in 1994 but devoted much of his professional life to improving outcomes for pension fund members through better understanding of investment costs and fees.
He chaired the Institutional Disclosure Working Group (IDWG), a group of asset management industry stakeholders convened by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which in 2018 produced standard templates for reporting asset management fees and costs.
This followed his work advocating for reform of social services on behalf of consumers as part of the Transparency Task Force, which he established in 2015 alongside Con Keating and Andy Agathagelou.
Agathangelou said: “Chris often spoke about how his police background shaped his investigative work on costs and charges. When fund managers proved reluctant to share data openly, his instinct was immediate: evasiveness aroused suspicion, sharpening his determination to uncover the full truth.
“Resistance and challenge never deterred Chris – they motivated him,” Agathangelou added.
“He was determined, relentless and tenacious. Combined with exceptional data analytics skills, those qualities made him a tour de force in this space. People often say “sunlight is the best disinfectant” when discussing transparency. Dr Chris Sier exemplified that principle. He has been a scintillating ray of sunshine, helping to defeat the industry’s predisposition towards opacity,” he continued.
Agathangelou said that without Sier’s passion for transparency, the Transparency Task Force would never have existed. “His impact on my life and work has been profound, and everything we have since achieved traces back to that genesis with Chris.”
In 2019, he founded ClearGlass, a company that collects and analyses data on asset management costs on behalf of pension funds, using the IDWG templates he designed. The company was built to support asset owners and their advisors’ ability to understand the value for money that asset managers bring to the UK and Europe’s multi-trillion-pound asset management market.
Tim Brown, chief executive officer of ClearGlass, said: “Chris devoted a huge part of his life to supporting pension funds to optimise outcomes for their members. And although he was occasionally portrayed as hostile to asset managers, this was completely untrue and he did a huge amount to recognise the vital role of asset managers and to champion those delivering exceptional value for their clients.”
“Thank you all. Farewell, enjoy life, be happy”
Chris Sier
Sier was also one of the UK’s fintech envoys, appointed by the government to promote investment in the fintech sector. The UK government launched its fintech strategy in 2018 and appointed several envoys with responsibility for different areas, with Sier responsible for the ‘Northern Powerhouse’.
In 2018, he took a role as chair of FinTech North, which he stepped down from in September 2025 as his illness advanced. The company at the time thanked Sier for the “significant impact” he had on FinTech North over the last decade.
Sier also held professorships at Newcastle, Leeds, and Durham universities.
Iain Clacher, professor of pensions and finance at the University of Leeds, told IPE that Sier had “seen the need for rigorous independent analysis” and “nowhere was this truer in the costs and fees of asset management”.
“It was about ensuring good consumer outcomes but also highlighting the genuine excellence and global competitiveness of the UK asset management industry. For Chris it wasn’t one or the other; it was about achieving the best outcomes for both,” said Clacher.
Posting her tribute on LinkedIn, former pensions minister Ros Altman said: “ I am so so sorry to hear that the wonderful Chris Sier has lost his battle with cancer. He was taken from us too young and still had so much to contribute to consumer transparency and cost control.
“My heart goes out to his wife and family and all his friends. Everyone will miss Chris’ wisdom, energy and determination to succeed, even to the end. He was an inspiration. Never moaning about the cancer or the awful treatments – just going through it all,” she said.
Altman added: “His memory will live on and it was a privilege to interact with him, albeit only more recently, and to feel his passion for his work on behalf of others. May he rest in everlasting peace.”
Saying his own goodbye, as he stepped down from FinTech North in September, Sier said: “Thank you all. Farewell, enjoy life, be happy.”
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