The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the UK’s biggest private sector pension fund, has hired NOW Pensions’ deputy CEO as its group general counsel, one of two new appointments to its senior team.
Claire Bowyer takes over from Jeremy Hill, who will retire at the end of April 2026. Bowyer will take up her role on 1 March 2026 as part of a “planned transition”, USS said in a press release.
Bowyer is currently deputy CEO of master trust NOW Pensions as well as group general counsel at Cardano, which acquired NOW in 2019. Cardano was bought by Mercer last year.
At Cardano, Bowyer is a board member and is responsible for legal, compliance and governance functions as well as the investment, proposition and commercial teams at NOW Pensions. She joined Cardano in 2009 from law firm Travers Smith, where she was an investment funds and mergers and acquisitions lawyer.
Carol Young, USS group chief executive officer, said: “Doing the right thing for our members and employers to deliver promised pensions means robust governance and properly considering the legal frameworks within which the scheme operates. These frameworks impact how we interact with our members and stakeholders, manage our procurement processes, and invest the scheme’s assets. I look forward to Claire joining us and the perspective that her experience will bring across USS.”
She also thanked Hill for his “huge contribution” to USS during two spells at the pension scheme.
In addition, USS has also hired Andrew Kyle as group finance director. He will join the £75bn pension scheme on 12 January.
Kyle is currently chief financial officer at Brown Shipley, a private bank. He has previously worked at Coutts, where he was also CFO, and at NatWest, where he worked on the financial services giant’s majority acquisition of the Cushon master trust.
Young added: “Strong financial governance and ensuring value for members sit alongside this. I’m therefore delighted to also welcome Andrew to the USS team. His experience will be invaluable in ensuring that our costs continue to benchmark strongly against our peers.”
