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.

Robert is a pensions professional with an extensive business background. He has worked for trustee, not for profit, private equity owned, and insurance businesses over the last 30 years.

Robert transitioned the Office of the Paymaster General from a public to a private sector outsourcing business in the late 1990’s and worked with Cabinet Office to establish the joint venture which became MyCSP. He has also managed the back office or pension functions for several pension schemes, including the NHS, Civil Service, Royal Mail Statutory scheme, and the £20 billion Railways pension scheme.

He is also a Governor of the Pensions Policy Institute. Robert has previously been Chair of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme and sat on the Board of Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA), a fully-owned subsidiary of Local Pensions Partnership (LPP).

Sally is Chair at Brunel Pension Partnership and at the Development Bank of Wales, as well as non-executive director at insurers Pension Insurance Corporation and Royal & Sun Alliance.

Her non-executive portfolio has included roles at the Nuclear Liabilities Fund, NEST Corporation and the Lloyds Bank pension schemes and as Chair of the first local government pensions pool, Local Pensions Partnership Investments (LPPI) Limited.

She was CEO of the BP Pension Scheme in the interesting years of 2007-14 after twenty years with Aon Hewitt working as a pensions consultant and in investment research and innovation.

Fiona is currently Group Head of Pensions & Benefits at Rolls-Royce Plc. Her role is a hands on one in the UK, with fiduciary and strategic responsibilities outside the UK. Fiona is also global lead on Financial Wellbeing strategies.

Fiona has previously held in house Pensions and Reward lead roles at Thomas Cook Plc and Electricity North West.

Prior to her in-house roles, Fiona spent 14 years at the Big 4, in consultancy roles. Fiona’s passion is financial wellbeing, improving general numeracy skills and better supporting people in making effective short and long term financial decisions.

Mike runs a responsible investment advisory firm, Ario Advisory. With a background in investment management, governance, pensions and insurance, much of his work is concerned with the financial risks of climate change. He works across the investment sector with asset owners, investment managers, policymakers, regulators, investment consultants and NGOs.

Among his roles, he represents IFoA (actuaries) on the Sustainable Finance Advisory Council at the Oxford Smith School and sits on the WHEB Asset Management independent Advisory Committee. He has recently left the Brunel (LGPS) board, where he was a NED (chairing Audit&Risk, more recently Remco), and he was Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee for their 2018 Green Finance inquiry.

Andy enjoys a portfolio career as a trustee and Non Executive Director. In the world of pensions, he is Chair of Trustees of the Nat West DC Plan, a NED at Capital Cranfield, and a member of the Investment and Funding Committee of the Lloyds Banking Group DB pension schemes.

Until 2019, Andy spent 30 years at Aon as an actuarial and Investment consultant, was a member of the Global Retirement & Investment Leadership and CEO of Aon Hewitt Ltd in the UK. He also sat on the Aon Global Operating Committee.

In his spare time, Andy enjoys skiing and scrambling with his family and has recently passed his private pilots license. He is also looking forward to more success supporting Wales on the rugby pitch.

Jo became Chief Executive Officer at the London Pensions Fund Authority in April 2025.

She was previously Head of Pensions at the Local Government Association (LGA) and was Board Secretary to the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board.

Before joining the LGA, Jo worked as a senior policy adviser on public service pensions at HM Treasury for 4 years.

Prior to joining HM Treasury, Jo worked for the Department of Health as a policy manager on the NHS Pension Scheme for just over 3 years.

Marian is the Global Head of Risk & Sustainability at GFG Alliance.

Prior to joining GFG, she was a Managing Director at Redington and before that led Deloitte’s Trustee Advisory team in London.

Her experience covers pension risk management, sustainability, trusteeship, scheme actuarial work, corporate advisory and investment consulting.

Jill is Head of LGPS at Redington, supporting LGPS funds to meet their strategic objectives by advising on strategic asset allocation, climate change and net zero, impact investing, and broader investment strategy. Redington advise a range of funds across the LGPS – led by Jill, with the support of the wider Redington LGPS team.

Having worked directly in the LGPS sector for 18 years at a senior level, Jill understands what it means to run an LGPS fund and the challenges they face. She regularly contributes to events, conferences, and roundtables, and is a strong advocatefor responsible investing for delivering both sustainability and impact alongside the financial returns required to pay pensions.

Previously, Jill worked as a fund manager for over 20 years. Her primary focus was on equities, but she was also involved in strategic asset allocation and derivatives.

Laurie has spent a lifetime in pensions, investment and retirement related areas and is Commissioner for the Financial Inclusion Commission.

He was a non-executive director of NOW Pensions Limited, a member of the Independent Governance Committee of Zurich UK and chaired B Different, a financial services research agency. He was also a member of advisory board of Lincoln Pensions.

He has been a trustee of the Quest School for autistic children for 15 years and is a member of the ‘Employ Autism’ Development Board. established by Ambitious About Autism.

A founder director of NEST, of the Pensions Regulator and of the Money Advice Service, Laurie chaired Marine and General Mutual Assurance and the ABI’s pensions and savings committee. During his executive career he was corporate development director of AEGON UK and deputy chief executive of National Provident Institution.

He was appointed CBE for services to pensions reform in 2006. Laurie is a fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and of the Pensions Management Institute.

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.

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.

Claire is an employer-nominated trustee for the Bank’s DB scheme, now closed to future accrual but very actively managed and exploring future options for the Scheme.

She has been a member of the Trustee Board and Investment subcommittee for circa 4 years, having previously had experience on the open DC scheme where she set up and chaired an audit and risk sub-committee.

A biochemist by training, she is particularly interested in exploring the rigor and methodology of some ESG claims.

As a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser, she has a “day job” as Head of Tax for Virgin Money, so is very much a lay trustee who sees part of her role as posing the key questions and considering the effectiveness of communications to members.

Claire is currently based in Norwich and outside of work runs quite long distances in all weathers, reasonably quickly.

Ian is Chief Investment Officer of the Medical Protection Society and a highly experienced pensions executive.

Most recently, he has been the Chief Investment Officer at Lloyds Banking Group Pensions, overseeing some £40 billion of assets across both DB and DC sections. He joined Lloyds from Aviva, where he carried out a similar role.

Prior to that, he was the CIO of the Pension Protection Fund. Ian is also a member of the actuarial profession’s Finance and Investment Board, while also being Chairman of EPFIF’s Pension Fund Investment Advisory Committee.

Toby is a Contributing Editor for the Financial Times.

He spent 25 years in the asset management industry, most recently as Global Head of Asset Allocation at Columbia Threadneedle, where he led an award-winning asset allocation investment team of 26 professionals, based across four time-zones, managing c$160bn AuM for a range of institutional and retail clients.

Steph took up the role of Head of Pension Scheme Executive for M&G in July 2024, assuming responsibility for the company’s three staff pension schemes.

She previously spent 19 years at Lloyds Banking Group in a number of pensions roles, ultimately taking responsibility for all member facing activity and strategic change as Head of Pensions Operations. Working on the Lloyds schemes provided the opportunity for Steph to build a broad experience, including the challenge of GMP equalisation through the court case and subsequent implementation.

Steph’s primary focus is on the member experience within pension schemes, which she views as becoming ever more critical with the shift to DC pensions and the need for members to understand their retirement savings and options.

Ben is currently Vice President – OCIO Multi Asset Strategies and Solutions (MASS) at BlackRock from 2023, after having previously served as Secretary to the Trustees of the Royal Mail Defined Contribution Plan for 9 years.

Despite moving to BlackRock, Ben continues to support the Royal Mail Pension Plan and its Trustees in delivering returns for its members.

Before Royal Mail, Ben worked at JLT until 2014, advising a portfolio of clients as Investment Consultant. His role at Royal Mail was broader, and included dealing with the challenges of Communications and with the “Freedom and Choice in Pensions”.

Chris is a former Pensions Minister, who now serves as Chair of the Financial Inclusion Commission, of the Lending Standards Board, of the Equity Release Council Standards Board and of The Money Charity. He is an Independent Director of the Current Account Switch Service (Pay.UK) and of Cape Claims Services, and is a trustee of GambleAware and the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute.

Chris is a member of the Treasury FinTech Delivery Panel. He has been Chief Executive of two national charities and chair or trustee of many others and was formerly Director of Financial Capability and Head of Consumer Affairs of the Financial Services Authority.

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.

Julius spent his executive career working with DC pensions in both the insurance and asset management industries. He was one of the founding trustee directors of NEST Corporation, and chaired both its investment and risk committees.

In his non executive career he has held investment and pension governance roles for NEST, Heineken, Nat West, Prudential and Royal London. He has worked with a number of fintechs, most recently designing the award winning climate investment strategy for Cushon.

Chris is the Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of ClearGlass, which provides investment-cost reports to pension funds by collecting data from asset managers according to the standardised formats developed by the FCA Institutional Disclosure Working Group (IDWG), which Chris chaired.

He is Managing Director of FiNexus, a knowledge-transfer and research organisation. He also advises the UK Government, Regulators, the World Bank and various trade bodies on pension fund Corporate Governance and Cost Transparency.

He is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Leeds and Professor of Practice at Newcastle University Business School.

Sophia joined XPS Pensions Group in June 2020 to lead their DC business, helping clients deliver top class DC services to their members.

Prior to that, she led Aon’s DC Consulting business.

Sophia has over 24 years’ experience in the UK pensions industry and advises corporates and trustees on a range of DC pension solutions, developing and delivering DC strategies that optimise scheme design, ensuring effective governance and improving member outcomes. She is a well-known industry and media commentator on DC market developments and feels passionately that we must tackle short-term financial resilience as well as deliver better long-term post-retirement products, if we’re going to help today’s workforce to retire with the security and lifestyle they want; she is regularly quoted in the press and presents on DC issues at industry events.

Magnus has provided data and research to asset management clients to help address distribution-related challenges since 1994. He has been a Director at Apex Investment Advisory since January 2024.

In 2008, he co-founded Spence-Johnson to concentrate on providing data-based research services to institutional asset managers and insurers. In 2017, Spence Johnson was acquired by Broadridge, and up to 2021, he was helping to build Broadridge’s Global Distribution Solutions, consulting capabilities from London.

He was also a Director at FidesIQ, an online monitoring and reporting tool, which enables pension fund trustees to capture the true objectives behind their strategic investment decisions.

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.

Mike is a Professional Trustee at Pi Partnership.

Prior to this, he was Chief Executive Officer of LGPS Central Ltd. He has also been Chief Executive of the Pensions Infrastructure Platform (PiP) and Chief Investment Officer for the DMGT pension schemes.

Mike has worked as an Investment Director in the City, managing institutional equity portfolios at asset management firms such as Hermes and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.

In 2013, Mike was appointed as an Independent Trustee of the Institute of Cancer Research Pension Scheme. He has also served as a Non-Executive Director of the NAPF and as Vice Chair of its Defined Benefit Council.

Mike holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management and graduated from Cambridge University with an MA in Natural Sciences.