The latest hires, promotions and appointments for the week ending 18 September 2026.
Entrust, the professional trustee arm of service provider Gateley, has appointed two new trustee directors, Hannah Francois and Jessica Pigg.
The duo are senior associates within Gateley Legal’s pensions team, and both have more than 10 years’ experience working with Gateley’s pensions and trustee teams.
Entrust has 79 trustee appointments, with its team responsible for more than 20,000 pension scheme members.
Stuart Evans, CEO of Entrust, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Hannah and Jess to the Entrust board. Having worked with both of them for many years, I am confident we are adding two extremely talented pensions professionals to the board and have no doubt that they will deliver excellent results for our scheme members and our sponsoring employer clients.”
Tookey to lead trustee services at TPT
TPT Retirement Solutions has recruited Geoff Tookey as head of trustee services to support the pension provider’s trustee company, Verity Trustees Limited.
Tookey will lead the trustee services team as Verity oversees TPT’s growing range of pension propositions, including its new collective defined contribution and defined benefit superfund options.
Tookey joins from Bank of America where he was head of pensions for the UK and Ireland, and he has more than 20 years’ experience in the pensions industry. His previous roles include head of pensions at Virgin Media O2, and consulting positions at WTW and KPMG.
Andy O’Regan, chief client strategy officer at TPT Retirement Solutions, said Tookey had joined at “an important stage in our growth, as we continue to broaden the range of pension solutions we offer to schemes and employers”.
“As our business grows, maintaining high governance standards will be critical, and Geoff will be instrumental in ensuring we continue to deliver for our members,” O’Regan said.
Governance hires at Norfolk LGPS
The Norfolk Pension Fund has appointed experienced pensions lawyer Clifford Sims as its new independent person, a position introduced for all Local Government Pension Scheme funds through the Pension Schemes Act 2026 and ‘Fit for the Future’ reforms.
Sims has more than 30 years’ experience in law and led the pensions practice at Squire Patton Boggs for six years until his retirement in 2024.
In his new role, Sims will be responsible for providing independent insight, scrutiny, and constructive challenge to the fund’s Pension Committee across all aspects of investment, governance, and administration.
Sims said: “The Fit for the Future reforms represent a significant opportunity to strengthen governance and ensure funds are well placed to deliver for members and employers over the long term. I look forward to working with the Pension Committee and officers to support the Fund in maintaining robust, transparent decision-making and high standards of governance as the LGPS continues to evolve.”
In addition, Glenn Cossey, director of Norfolk Pension Fund, has been named as Norfolk’s senior LGPS officer, which is also a new role introduced through the Fit for the Future reforms.
The pension fund also has a new chair of its Pensions Oversight Board, Robert Gould. Gould previously chaired the Environment Agency Pensions Committee and the Brunel Pension Partnership Oversight Board. Emma Krelle, director of resources at the Broads Authority, has also joined the board as employer representative for non-levying/precepting employers.
Trio of recruits strengthen Arc
Specialist pensions law firm Arc Pensions Law has announced three new appointments to its team this week.
Victoria Thompson-Hill joins from Baker McKenzie as a professional support lawyer. She has 20 years of pensions law experience across areas including guaranteed minimum pension equalisation, funding, scheme mergers, wind-ups and liability management.
Jonathan Mason has also joined Arc as an associate. He is a newly qualified solicitor, having trained at Squire Patton Boggs. The third recruit is Georgi Ivanov, who joins as a paralegal.
Managing partner Anna Copestake said: “Victoria’s combination of extensive pensions experience and knowledge management expertise will be hugely valuable as we continue to grow. These appointments reflect our continued investment in the firm at every level and our focus on building for the future.”
Deegan and Murphy boost senior Howden team
Howden Employee Benefits has appointed John Deegan to its UK board as a non-executive director and as an adviser to the company’s global employee benefits executive leadership team.
He has more than 25 years of experience working for Mercer Marsh Benefits and its predecessor businesses, including leading its multinational employee benefits business and responsibility for Darwin, its global benefits technology platform.
Deegan’s appointment follows Howden’s acquisition of Barnett Waddingham.
The company has also named Peter Murphy as chief operating officer of Howden Employee Benefits. He has held this role for the firm’s employee benefits division for six years, but his remit has now been extended to incorporate the expanded UK business, including Barnett Waddingham’s operations.
Canada Life continues to add to bulk annuity team
Canada Life has named Mark Fenlon as operations director for bulk annuities as it continues to grow this part of its business. He reports to Dominic Moret, the newly appointed managing director of the bulk annuities business.
Fenlon joins from Standard Life, where he was director of client services for annuities. He has also held senior operational and actuarial roles at Aviva and Legal & General.
Moret said Fenlon’s appointment “reflects the next stage of growth in our operational capabilities as we scale up to support our customers in the bulk annuities market, with members’ interests at the heart of our decisions”.
