Shalin joined the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) in 2023, where he serves as Chief Actuary and interim Chief Financial Officer. At PPF, he brings extensive pensions, insurance and investment experience, having previously worked at DWS Investments since 2018, and other companies across the sector for many years. He originally started his career in South Africa in life insurance pricing and reserving and then transitioned into liability valuations for defined benefit pension funds. In addition, he brings significant LDI, derivative and credit portfolio management experience and has advised some of the UK’s largest pension funds on their LDI strategies both as a consultant with Mercer and portfolio manager with Legal & General Investment Management. Shalin is a member of the Advisory panel at the Financial Reporting Council. He recently served as a member of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ Finance and Investment Board and as an advisory member for the task force to boost socio-economic diversity at senior levels in both the financial and professional services sectors. Shalin is a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries and holds an Honours Degree in Statistics and Actuarial Science from the University of Cape Town.

Nicolas is the Founder of the World Pensions® Council, the retirement & savings industry group, co-chair of the G7 Pensions Roundtable held on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, founding-member of the Advisory Council for the Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF), a World Bank and G20–led global initiative, and executive director of the Singapore Economic Forum (SEF). He has co-developed notions such as ‘SDG–Driven Investment’, ‘Pension Superpowers’, the ‘Age of Geoeconomics’, ‘Employee Capitalism’, and chaired the Pensions and Asset Owners Roundtable at the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (Paris COP21 Summit/Paris Agreement). Nicolas is a graduate of Canada’s McGill University (Statistics & Financial Economics), an alumnus of the HEC Paris School of Management (MBA Corporate Strategy & Marketing) and the University of Paris Law School (LL.M. Corporate Law) and has conducted research at the University of Louvain (UCL) Doctoral School of Economics and Management in Waals Brabant (Belgium). He is a regular contributor to BBC News (Asia), Asharq News with Bloomberg, the Arabian Gulf financial news network, RTÉ, Ireland’s National Television and Radio Broadcaster, and Cairo TV (Qahera News). He is also active in ecumenical, intercultural dialogue, nonalignment, & the promotion of peaceful, inclusive sustainable development endeavours in Britain, the European Union (EU) and the Greater MENA–APAC continuum.

Mark is a Trustee and former Chief Investment Officer of the Nationwide Pension Fund, where he had responsibility for the performance and implementation of the asset allocation strategies agreed with the fund investment advisors. Previously, he led the establishment of Nationwide’s Covered Bond programme and its Silverstone RMBS Master Trust funding vehicle. In addition, Mark has securitised UK Student Loans and a synthetic corporate bond structure along with structured transaction and investment in various ABS instruments. Past experience also includes leading the origination and structuring of social housing, PFI and commercial real estate debt transactions.

Kerry is the Executive Director for Capital Markets & Fundraising at Accounting for Sustainability (A4S), where she is responsible for leading their Capital Markets programme to accelerate awareness and action towards a global sustainable financial system. This includes running the A4S Asset Owners Network for pension fund chairs, supporting their commitments to embed sustainability into their strategic and investment decisions; convening senior finance to address specific challenges faced by the financial sector; and leading on guidance to scale up adoption of sustainable action by pension scheme trustees and finnace within the banking and insurance sectors. Having worked on numerous sustainability initiatives of His Majesty King Charles III, Kerry first joined A4S in 2006 and returned in 2017, to drive support for and adoption across a global CFO community on the recommendations of the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Neil leads the £6bn+ Surrey Pension Fund, with near 130,000 members and over 500 employers. Surrey is one of the 11 LGPS partner funds that make up the Border to Coast asset pool. Neil believes excellence in service delivery is best achieved through an integrated pension service with equal emphasis on all elements of the business, and a laser focus on the customer. The Surrey Fund has received pension industry acknowledgement for its outstanding approach to risk management, governance, responsible investing and most recently, administration. Neil is a member of the PLSA Policy Board, and its Local Authority Committee. He is also the Independent Chair of the Local Pension Board for the London Borough of Hounslow, and an Independent Advisor to the Local Pension Board of the South Yorkshire Pension Authority. He is the father of twin boys who are both off doing far more interesting things than he ever did at university. In his spare time, he supports Queens Park Rangers and three putts.

A highly experienced and trusted investment and pensions’ solutions professional with deep DC insights, who likes to keep an eye on future market needs and how to deliver them. David has over 30 years experience in asset management and pensions solutions, including senior roles at Mobius Life, AllianceBernstein, Sun Life of Canada Asset Management, Xafinity, Aon Consulting and Capita Hartshead. As Chair of the PASA Master Trust Working Group, and a regular contributor to industry working groups, David sees a strong sense of purpose and drive in the industry at a time of technological innovation and information empowerment. Focused and practised at complex problem solving in the DC workplace solutions and investment management industry, David views the current opportunities the industry face as potentially huge game changers for savings and outcomes. If there is one thing which drives David forward every day, it is being in an industry doing the right things to improve member outcomes.

Mark Tennant is a Trustee of the Country Landowners Pension Fund, a Trustee of the Royal Hospital Chelsea and a Non-Executive Director of the Unit Trust of India International. He also leads a charity devoted to stopping young offenders from reoffending. He was until recently the Chairman of Centrica Pension Funds, and Chairman of Scottish Land and Estates, after spending 28 years with J.P. Morgan Chase as a Senior Adviser, and CFO of the Global Custody Division. Prior to that, Mark was at Hill Samuel, Fidelity and Hambros Bank, and served as the Conservative Party candidate against Gordon Brown in 1992 and against Winnie Ewing for the European seat of the Highland and Islands in 1994. In the late 80’s, Mark served as the Treasurer for the Conservative Party for Scotland, and the Treasurer for the Better Together Campaign under Alistair Darling in 2014. He also served seven years in the Scots Guards, spent a year nursing in India, and is an Officer of the Queen’s Bodyguard in Scotland. Away from work, his main interests are history, travel and Scottish music, particularly the Highland Bagpipe, which he plays.

In addition to his role at M&G, Mark is a Member of the Independent Governance Committee at Zurich Insurance; Executive Chairman of the UBS (UK) Pension & Life Assurance Scheme Investment Committee; and a Member of the Investment & Funding and DC Committees at Lloyds Banking Group Pensions. He was previously the Chief Investment Officer of HSBC Bank Pension Trust (UK) Limited, who he joined in 2011. Prior to this, he held a number of senior investment roles at Prudential/M&G. These included UK Equity Fund Manager, Head of Equity Research, Director of Collective Investments, and Investment & Strategy Director for Prudential Europe.

Jo joined M&G Investments in February 2012 to begin work as a Director in the Alternative Credit Team. In that role, she developed a £10bn range of diversified private debt products for institutional clients. She had oversight of the end to end journey for clients investing in Private Credit Products. ​ In 2024, Jo transitioned into a newly created role leading M&G’s efforts to develop broad Private Markets offerings for new client types that have requirements which are not met by traditional closed-ended funds. Since 2020, Jo has served as a Trustee Director for the Prudential Staff Pension Scheme, sitting on the investment committees for both DC and DB sections and the main trustee board. In 2024, she became Chair of the DC Section. Jo began her career at HSBC in 2001, holding various roles over 10 years, primarily in investor relations for the ABS Investments team and later as an investment specialist in Global Fixed Income and Global Sales Management. She holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of London.