PIPA 2019: Meet the judges

This year's sees the return of several long-time contributors to the judging panel, alongside new faces from the worlds of trusteeship, consultancy and from industry associations.

Now in its 20th year, the respected awards see judges subject entries to intense scrutiny, with conflicts of interest managed rigorously throughout the process. A full list of judges is included below.

Entries are now open across all categories, including special categories celebrating those who have led industry thought throughout the 20 years the PIPAs have been running. You can find details of how to enter here, and the deadline for entries is February 1.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony on May 15 2019, at the exclusive Sheraton Grand London Park Lane hotel.

The judges will also name an industry champion for the year, focusing on work done in the interest of savers, schemes or providers.

Scheme Services

François Barker – head of pensions at Eversheds Sutherland

François Barker acts as legal adviser to corporate sponsors, trustee boards and pension providers on the full range of pensions issues including international arrangements, defined benefit plan funding and derisking, and defined contribution plan governance. He is actively involved in the development of pensions law and policy, and has helped to shape aspects of both UK and EU pensions legislation. He is an elected member of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association DC Council, and sits on the CBI Pensions Panel, the Hundred Group Pensions Committee and the DC Standing Committee of Pensions Europe.

Kirsty Bartlett – partner at Squire Patton Boggs

Kirsty Bartlett is a partner at Squire Patton Boggs with more than 15 years of experience in pensions law. She works with trustees and sponsoring employers on matters ranging from projects such as mergers, benefit changes and buy-ins, to the impact of new legislation, day-to-day compliance and member complaints. Kirsty has a particular interest and specialism in schemes with a public sector element and leads the Squire Patton Boggs Public Sector Pensions Group. She is also a founding member of the Association of Pension Lawyers’ public sector sub-committee. Kirsty is recommended in both the Legal 500 and Chambers directories.

Karen Bolan – head of engagement at AHC

As head of engagement and member of AHC’s senior management team, Karen has responsibility for the delivery of multi-faceted communication projects for some of AHC’s biggest clients. She has more than 25 years’ commercial experience in large corporate organisations including 15 years in senior strategic and operational communication roles. Her corporate experience is combined with excellent pensions knowledge and a proven track record in developing engaging communications strategies for clients. Karen is an accredited member and examiner for the International Association of Business Communicators and has received several international communication awards. Away from work, Karen is an accomplished chef and opera singer.

Steve Delo – managing director at PAN Governance

Steve Delo is managing director of independent trustee firm Pan Governance. He is also a former president of the Pensions Management Institute (2007-2009). His experience includes senior roles in scheme management, consulting and asset management. Steve is now a leading independent trustee, having sat on major pension scheme trustee boards for the past decade, chairing most of them. His appointments also cover mastertrusts, including The People's Pension (of which he is chair of trustees) and the Atlas Master Trust.

Jeanette Holland – partner and head of pensions at Baker McKenzie

Jeanette is head of the Baker McKenzie pensions department and has well over two decades of experience as a pensions lawyer. Jeanette is co-secretary of the Association of Pension Lawyers legislative and parliamentary committee and a former member of the association's international committee. She advises both companies and trustees on all aspects of pension law and manages strategic large-scale projects involving the mitigation of pensions risks, for example, pensions restructuring, buy-ins and buyouts and contingent funding arrangements. She also handles transactions and clearance issues. Jeanette speaks regularly on industry developments and issues.

Simon Kew – director of financial advisory, pensions at Deloitte

Simon leads on national strategy for Deloitte’s ‘Financial Advisory – Pensions’ practice, encompassing London and the regional teams, with a focus on pensions-related advisory services. This includes the provision of advice to trustees and corporates as part of the scheme funding process by way of a covenant assessment, through regular monitoring, finding innovative solutions to funding issues or by supporting relevant parties in mergers and acquisitions. A former pensions regulator, Simon is frequently asked to judge industry awards, speak at events or quote for the press as a leading expert on employer covenant and wider pensions regulation.

Neil McPherson – managing director, Capital Cranfield

Neil joined Capital Cranfield in August 2014 as managing director and a member of the company's board. He has extensive commercial and fiduciary experience working with pension funds over a 30-year career. At Citigroup, he established Citigroup Asset Management's European retirement services business and was a trustee of the UK pension scheme, where he chaired the investment committee. At Standard Life he set up Standard Life Investments' European client business and was director of group relationship management. Neil acted as independent chairman of the Kosovo Pension Savings Trust for seven years from its inception and was a member of the Expert Group on Russian Pension Reform. He also acts as the council director for the Conference Board's European Pension Council, a pan-European group of multinational corporate pension funds.

Ian McQuade – director at Muse Advisory

Ian is a director at Muse Advisory and has 30 years’ expertise covering pension scheme management, administration and governance for both DB and DC schemes. He advises trustees and companies on a wide range of strategic, operational and governance related issues. This includes advising, facilitating and challenging trustees on strategy and business plan development, as well as advising on operational and administration effectiveness. Ian also leads clients through the review, selection and implementation of advisers and suppliers to their scheme. He supports trustees when reviewing and enhancing governance of their DB and DC schemes, and he leads and supports the implementation of major pension change projects.

Darren Philp – head of policy at Smart Pension

Darren is active in the industry, lobbying for change in pensions and financial services for the benefit of members, and uses his experience of previous roles at the The People's Pension, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association and HM Treasury – where he was closely involved in the design of the UK’s flagship auto-enrolment programme. Darren is active within the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association through contributing to thought leadership and policy development work, and is currently vice chair of its master trust committee. He also recently chaired the pensions dashboard ABI-sponsored consumer research group. Darren sits on the PMI External Affairs Committee and is a governor of the independent Pensions Policy Institute.

Daniel Taylor – client director at Trafalgar House

Daniel is client director at Trafalgar House, a specialist pensions administrator based in the City of London. As client director, he is responsible for maintaining focus on delivering exceptional client service while supporting growth and innovation across the business. Daniel has run third-party administration operations and helped to develop and implement new technology and communication solutions, all aimed at providing truly exceptional member and client experiences. Before joining Trafalgar House in 2016, Daniel held senior leadership roles covering operations, implementations, quality assurance and business development. Daniel also spent 10 years as head of administration services at a successful start-up third-party administrator.

Anne-Marie Winton – partner at Arc Pensions Law

Anne-Marie is on the main committee of the Association of Pension Lawyers (having chaired its education & seminars committee for a number of years) and is also a member of the audit and risk committee of the Pensions Management Institute. She has advised trustee and employer clients for more than 20 years and last year acted for Hoover on its entry into a regulated apportionment arrangement (one of only two agreed in 2017). She co-founded boutique law firm, Arc Pensions Law in 2015.

Investment services

David Clare – partner at Barnett Waddingham

David advises DB and DC clients on investment, from strategy setting through to manager selection and effective monitoring. David leads Hymans Robertson's vision on the full range of its fiduciary oversight services, and has been a key consulting figure since the early days of the investment consulting industry. He has a vast knowledge of the investment consulting sector and is an expert across a range of investment services. He has the flexibility and experience to adapt his advice accordingly and believes very strongly in client-led solutions. David also undertakes expert witness work and has recently been the lead expert witness for a high profile pension case in the high court.

Simon Cohen - chief investment officer at Dalriada Trustees

Simon Cohen is an experienced pension investment actuary and is the chief investment officer at Dalriada. Simon deals with a range of pension scheme clients, with assets of up to around £300m, on investment matters including asset strategy and manager selection. Simon joined Dalriada in 2015. He entered the pensions industry in 1994 and became a fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in 2000. He is chairman of the investment committee of the Association of Consulting Actuaries. He has worked for three major investment consultancies holding senior roles in both investment consulting and management positions.

Joe Dabrowski – head of governance and investment at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association

Joe joined the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association in February 2016. Joe leads the governance and investment team with responsibility for policy areas including defined benefit provision, pension scheme governance and institutional investment issues. Before joining the PLSA, Joe spent nine years at the Pension Protection Fund, where his last role was head of Chief Executive’s Office. Earlier in his career he worked in policy and operational roles within central government, including the Home Office and Defra. Joe has a BA in English and American Literature from Warwick University.

Anthony Ellis – head of investment consultancy at Hymans Robertson

Anthony is the head of investment consultancy and a partner. He has overall responsibility for delivery of investment advice to clients across all markets, and is lead consultant for a number of Hymans Robertson's largest clients. Anthony advises trustees on the full range of investment services, including asset allocation strategies, DC default strategies, portfolio structure and manager selection. Anthony also leads the investment practice quality assurance and professionalism group and is the designated actuary for the investment practice in respect of this role. Anthony is also a fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Celene Lee – principal and senior investment consultant at Buck HR services

Celene is a principal and senior investment consultant at Buck HR Services. She has been advising trustees and companies on pension scheme investment and financing matters for almost two decades. Celene currently advises a portfolio of DB and DC clients, ranging from £100m to more than £1bn, on investment strategy, manager selection, liability hedging, dynamic derisking strategies and DC default design. Celene also advises trustees on the selection and monitoring of fiduciary management arrangements. She is the former chair of the National Association of Pension Funds North London Group and a fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.

Naomi L'Estrange – director at 2020 Trustees

Naomi L’Estrange has nearly twenty years’ experience in pensions and a formidable reputation in the field. After 10 years as a pension lawyer, she was seconded to design the moral hazard provisions of the Pensions Act 2004. She then became director of legal at the PPF, and later its director of strategy and policy. She joined 2020 Trustees in 2014 to lead its newly acquired Nottingham office. Naomi is a trained executive coach. She sits on schemes with assets from £2bn to £2m.

Alexandra Martinez – director at AM Varde Consulting

Alexandra Martinez is an experienced financial services professional, trustee and board member, with practical understanding of both private and public sector pension funds, insurance and family offices. She has a strong commercial background in financial services and technology with more than 20 years’ experience in asset raising, product development, project management and business development.

Laura Myers – partner and head of DC at LCP

As head of LCP's defined contribution team, Laura is at the forefront of understanding the market and spotting new opportunities and solutions for clients. With expertise in DC investment, she provides my clients with clear advice on a wide range of DC areas, including identifying appropriate investment strategies and managers and the efficient implementation of any investment changes. Myers also leads LCP's research on DC investment pension providers and solutions, giving clients in-depth knowledge of the issues facing pension providers and the new solutions available in the DC market such as target date funds and post-retirement solutions.

Maria Nazarova-Doyle - head of DC and investment consulting at JLT Employee Benefits

Maria is a senior investment consultant and also head of JLT’s DC investment consulting, where she is tasked with enhancing the DC proposition through market-leading research and development for the wide variety of DC pension arrangements. She has also been spearheading the investment research and client services for JLT's multiple award-winning group personal pension proposition. Maria combines her research role with her client-facing role, advising a diverse portfolio of DC trust and corporate clients. Maria is a CFA charterholder.

Karen Shackleton – senior adviser at MJ Hudson Allenbridge

Karen has worked in the finance sector for more than 30 years. In 2017, she set up Pensions for Purpose, a collaborative information-sharing platform that aims to raise awareness of impact investment. She is also chair of the board of Resonance Ltd, a firm investing in social impact opportunities, and deputy chair of the Strategic Investment Board for the Ministry of Justice. Karen provides independent investment advice, through MJ Hudson Allenbridge, to the London boroughs of Islington, Camden and Hounslow, and Warwickshire County Council pension funds.

Simeon Willis – chief investment officer at XPS Pensions

Simeon leads XPS Investment’s thinking on journey planning and asset allocation, along with being responsible for research across the team. He is an experienced investment specialist with 17 years’ experience advising trustee and corporate clients on a full range of investment-related matters with a particular emphasis on strategy and risk management. Simeon is frequently quoted in the press on matters relating to investment opportunities and topical debate and is well known for his inventive analogies and love of flip charts.