Appointments: LGPS Central, Hymans, Vidett, Quantum, Pinsent Masons

LGPS Central has hired Royal Mail Pension Plan CEO Richard Law-Deeks as its new chief executive.

Law-Deeks will take up the role in the summer, subject to regulatory approval. He will oversee the operations of LGPS Central, the pooling organisation and asset manager that runs more than £30bn on behalf of eight local authority pension funds.

Law-Deeks has led the Royal Mail scheme since 2018, having joined in 2015 as head of finance. Under his leadership the scheme has established a cash balance arrangement as part of wider pension changes. In February 2023, investment management was outsourced to BlackRock.

Before joining the Royal Mail, he spent the early part of his career in local government in pensions and wider finances role at Hackney Council and Hertfordshire County Council.

Law-Deeks said: “While there are challenges ahead, there are also opportunities, and I am excited to be helping to deliver cost savings and superior investment returns for our partner funds which in turn can have a positive impact on public finances and services in the Midlands.”

Bowman promoted at Hymans Robertson

Consultancy group Hymans Robertson has appointed Leonard Bowman as head of corporate consulting, a newly created role.

Bowman will focus on the coordination of Hymans Robertson’s across its corporate clients, the company said, helping pension scheme sponsors to navigate challenges and make effective decisions.

He joined Hymans Robertson in 2021 as part of the acquisition of Bath Actuarial Consulting, which he co-founded.

Richard Shackleton, head of pensions at Hymans Robertson, said: “In a rapidly changing market, corporate sponsors of schemes are playing an increasingly influential part in the decisions on pension schemes’ strategy and implementation, as well as in the appointment of trustees and advisors.

“Our mission is to help corporate sponsors cut through the noise across the pensions landscape. Leonard’s deep insights and expertise will enable us to bring the very best thinking to our corporate clients in exactly in the right way, when they need it.”

Vidett continues expansion with quintet of hires

Professional trustee and governance firm Vidett has made a series of hires to its London and Birmingham teams.

Victoria Mance, Azka Ali and Shaun Kilcoyne have all joined as client directors, while Lucy Loughborough has been appointed as bid associate and Sam Karavis joins as a technology and data trainee.

Mance previously worked at law firm CMS, where she spent more than 20 years in the pensions team advising schemes, employers and providers. She recently spent time on secondment to the legal team at the Pension Protection Fund, and has also worked at Baker & McKenzie, where she advised a range of clients and spent time on secondment with the Pensions Regulator and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Ali joins from Mercer where she spent 15 years in various roles, most recently as a scheme actuary advising trustees.

Kilcoyne was previously head of pensions at Smiths Group, an engineering company, where he worked for more than 17 years and oversaw the strategy for the company’s £4bn of pension liabilities. He has also worked at Alliance & Leicester, Deloitte and KPMG.

Loughborough joins from Just Group where she was a business analyst managing new business deals, while Karavis was previously at Experian, where he worked as a digital analyst intern before becoming a business analyst.

Quantum promotes Hubbard

Quantum Advisory has promoted Simon Hubbard to the role of principal consultant, based in the company’s office in Cardiff.

He joined Quantum in 2016 and is a member of the company’s risk transfer team. In his new role, he will oversee the actuarial team and also be involved in the strategic leadership of Quantum.

Hubbard is also a member of Quantum’s defined benefit strategy group, assists with the development of Quantum’s in-house actuarial models, and is scheme actuary to a number of pension schemes.

Pinsent Masons re-hires Scholes to pensions team

Law firm Pinsent Masons has appointed pensions litigation partner Charlotte Scholes to its financial services sector team in London.

Scholes joins from Gowling WLG, where she was a legal director in the pensions litigation practice. She previously worked for Pinsent Masons for more than 10 years after completing her training with the firm.

Scholes has experience of acting for trustees, employers and representative beneficiaries in rectification and construction proceedings and has expertise in advising either claimants or defendants in related professional negligence claims.