David Lunt is responsible for business development for B&CE and The People’s Pension and heads three teams engaging key intermediary sectors. He has 25 years’ experience in financial services and is a member of the Personal Finance Society and Chartered Insurance Institute by examination.

Shabna is Head of DC Provider Relations at Hymans Robertson, a Senior DC consultant and an Actuary with 15 years’ experience. Shabna leads Hymans’ Master Trust selection proposition and has a wealth of experience managing selection exercises and implementation of new master trust pension arrangements. Shabna has an in-depth knowledge of Master Trust provider’s propositions and the latest developments in the marketplace from her work in supporting clients on master trust projects. She also has experience of advising a wide range of clients on their DB and DC pension arrangements, on projects such as Master Trust selection, benefit change exercises and scheme design.

Mike is a Partner at Hymans Robertson' DC consulting team and has been in the pensions industry for more than 17 years.

He has extensive experience of both defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes and is responsible for the day-to-day management of numerous high profile trustee and corporate clients. He specialises in pension scheme design and benefits management; and change and implementation. This includes leading the advice in the following areas: alteration of pension and benefit scheme design, salary sacrifice implementation, flex scheme implementation, pension scheme closure, the impact of Freedom and Choice for DB and DC schemes, pension scheme governance (Corporate and Trustee including both private and public sector) and Guided Outcomes delivery as part of DC scheme design.

As Defined Contribution Director, Nigel is responsible for driving the company’s DC business throughout the EMEA region, including growing SEI’s master trust and DC governance solutions. Nigel has held a number of prominent international roles in the pensions industry. Prior to joining SEI Nigel was a senior managing director at State Street Global Advisors, where he was responsible for global workplace investment strategy and responsible investing. He also previously held positions at Standard Life, AXA and technology start-up DCisions, spanning areas including commercial strategy, investment and marketing.
Nigel firmly believes that the interests of ordinary consumers, the institutions they work for, and the planet we all inhabit can be equally served by smart, responsible and innovative investment.

Gary Davies is a Legal Director at DLA Piper specialising in pensions law.  Gary has a wide range of clients, including trustees and employers of some of the largest pension schemes in the UK.  He has considerable experience in advising on both DB and DC issues, including scheme mergers, bulk transfers and scheme wind-ups.

Anna is an experienced member of the LawDeb trustee team, representing LawDeb on a number of Boards and Committees including the Smart Pension Master Trust board where she chairs the Operations sub-committee. She also represents LawDeb as the Governance Committee and Benefits Allocation Committee Chair for a £10bn hybrid scheme and is an integral part of LawDeb’s Sole Corporate Trustee team. In September 2020, Anna was appointed to the Vanguard Independent Governance Committee responsible for overseeing the investment pathways for the Vanguard Personal Pension.

Anna encourages collaboration and accountability within the Boards that she joins, and she applies energy and empathy to get results.  She is passionate about DC – helping improve members’ retirement and savings outcomes through better governance, value for money, information, and education. 

Prior to LawDeb, Anna was a Senior DC Consultant at Willis Towers Watson, having started out as an actuarial consultant 20+ years earlier. During her time at WTW, Anna advised both trustees and corporate clients on DC, DB and hybrid schemes and on operational areas. Anna’s DC focus covered many areas including governance frameworks; lifestyle/freestyle investment designs; provider selection and benchmarking; member engagement; regulatory and legislative changes including pension freedoms and auto-enrolment. 

A pensions actuary by training, Anna is an Accredited Member of the Association of Professional Pension Trustees and a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries who loves Fast & Furious films, “enjoys” building fishponds and run-walk-running in her spare time.

Veronica is responsible for investments and ESG within the DC business, working across investments, product development and client solutions. She is a member of L&G Master Trust Investment Committee and an investment expert for LGIM’s DC clients. Veronica joined LGIM in 2012 and has worked in a number of investment roles before joining DC Distribution. Prior to LGIM, Veronica worked as a quantitative analyst in a hedge fund and an asset manager. She has an MSc in mathematics and a PhD in statistics.

Lesley joined KGC in 2012. Previously, Lesley gained significant insight into the market from a provider view in the areas of pensions systems, employee benefits services and investment management. This holistic understanding covers both trust and contract-based arrangements. She has deep knowledge in the construction of products and service offerings within the industry.

Lesley is the immediate past President of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) previously serving on the advisory council and its Board, she is currently on the PMI Lifetime Learning Committee. Whilst President Lesley chaired the Joint Industry Forum, working with the many different associations and industry bodies to liaise with Government bodies and regulators. Lesley is on the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Pension Scams. Lesley features regularly as both a speaker and chair of industry events and authors topical articles on various aspects of the industry.

Lesley holds a Masters in Economic and Social History and is also a Chartered Marketeer.  When not working Lesley likes to spend time with her two dogs and developing her baking skills, although bread still remains a challenge.

Paul is responsible for the overall strategic and corporate management of the Smart Pension Master Trust, Smart's award-winning multi-employer UK occupational pension scheme. Before joining Smart Pension in 2019, Paul was a Managing Director at BlackRock (and subsequently Aegon), leading their UK defined contribution workplace pension business. He has also held senior positions at Fidelity, AXA and PwC.

Richard is head of Isio’s (previously KPMG Pensions) DC consulting practice with over 20 years DC pensions consulting experience.

Richard and his team advise Trustees, Employers and Governance Committees on all aspects of DC, including default strategies, member engagement and education, auto-enrolment, scheme (re)design and asset transitions.

Of particular focus for Richard in recent years has been DC consolidation and change, and he has advised on many of the largest and most complicated DC transitions in the market to date.

Vinitha Kaushik, CFA, Director, is a senior investment strategist on the Retirement Solutions team within BlackRock's Multi-Asset Strategies & Solutions ("MASS") group. Retirement Solutions serves as the center for Lifecycle investing, bringing together expertise in research, portfolio management, strategy, and technology. In this role, Vinitha is responsible for representing the global LifePath target-date fund franchise and delivering solutions drawing from BlackRock's broader retirement capabilities to institutional investors, consultants, and financial professionals.

Prior to joining BlackRock, Vinitha spent over a decade in various roles in portfolio management, strategy, and relationship management for multi-asset solutions at Goldman Sachs and Bridgewater Associates. Based in New York and London, she worked with a wide range of institutional and high-net worth clients across the globe. She also served as the Head of Distribution Services for Anteil Capital Partners, a private equity business within Credit Suisse.

Vinitha graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a degree in Economics and Public Policy. She is a CFA charterholder.

Viraj Bhayani, CAIA, Vice President, is a Relationship Manager in the UK & Ireland DC Platforms and Retirement Solutions business.

The team deliver high-quality investment solutions and relationship management to insurers, distributors and platforms in both the Retail DC and Wealth marketplaces.

Viraj is a CAIA Charterholder and holds the Investment Management Certificate. Viraj earned a BSc degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Exeter.

Dominic Byrne, CAIA, Director, is the Lead Investment Strategist for EMEA Retirement Solutions, representing the firm's Multi-Asset capabilities across MAS and CPS. This includes pooled fund and custom portfolios that span target risk, diversified growth, factors, multi-alternatives, and lifecycle investment processes. In his role, Dom serves as the lead client-facing resource for EMEA distribution teams and engages with external stakeholders who drive Defined Contribution decision making including benefits consultants, trustees, master trust investment committees and a range of platforms and providers of retirement solutions across Europe. Dominic is a member of the LifePath EMEA Investment Committee and serves as the lead strategist for the MAS platform in Europe.

M.  Byrne has spent over 10 years of his career in product strategy roles where he was responsible for developing active multi-asset products and positioning these products both internally and externally.

Prior to joining BlackRock in 2007, Mr. Byrne spent three years at American Express Bank, most recently as an investment specialist with the Global Wealth Management group. Mr. Byrne earned a BA degree from the University of Durham in 2003.

Mr. Byrne earned a BA degree from the University of Durham in 2003.

Mark is a Partner with wide pensions law experience. He works closely with trustees and sponsoring companies on all aspects of scheme governance and administration, and on matters such as changes to benefits, scheme restructuring, trustee governance, complex investment arrangements and covenant and funding negotiations. Mark has developed particular expertise in the area of mastertrusts and in the field of pension scheme investment.

He is a key member of our Pensions Investment team, recently helping one scheme with over £4bn assets through various changes to its investment arrangements.  This included adopting a range of pooled fund structures, segregated mandates and complex derivatives documents. Mark has a close interest in investment governance for defined benefit schemes, and has run well-received training sessions for trustees in this area. Mark is a regular press contributor on pensions issues and speaks at events run by various industry bodies.  He is a committee member of the Pensions Management Institute's Trustee Group.

Girish has over 20 years of experience in business strategy, proposition development, technology build and operational delivery. He is also the Director of the Pensions Administration Standards Association and Chairman of the Pensions Management Institute, London Group. He has a Master's in Management from the London Business School.

Sara is a Principal and Senior Pension Management Consultant focussing on secretariat and governance services and supporting trustee special projects. Her natural approach supports a collaborative working relationship with clients whilst keeping them compliant with legislative and regulatory requirements.

She coordinated Barnett Waddingham’s response to The Pensions Regulator’s combined code consultation and has been supporting the development of training materials for trustees of pension schemes and a pragmatic approach for compliance with the new requirements.

In 2020, Sara was elected as a second vice-president to the Pensions Management Institute and joined the board as a non-executive director as part of her role.

Life is about more than work - In her spare time, Sara enjoys making amigurumi crochet toys (much to the delight of younger family members), brisk walks from her north Essex coastal home and an occasional glass of Pinot Grigio.

Joe’s worked on communications strategy for pension schemes, investment firms, insurers and other financial institutions, big and small. His work at Quietroom is all about making complicated or difficult messages more meaningful to more people. Joe is also a best-selling author and screenwriter. He specialises in keeping people interested in what they’re reading, especially people with a low reading age, or who don’t want to be reading. He runs story workshops for writers of all ages, all over the world.

Victoria has 15 years’ experience advising UK pension schemes on pension and investment issues. She joined the Hymans Robertson DC Consulting team as a Senior Investment Consultant in 2019, previously in a similar role at Aon. Her expertise includes working as a consultant and client relationship manager for a portfolio of DC clients across a variety of sectors advising on investment strategy, plan design and plan governance. Victoria also presents 2 regular Hymans Robertson podcasts on DC quarterly news updates and holding interviews focusing on DC MasterTrusts.

Victoria has a passion for joining the dots between schemes and members to increase member engagement and participation. She also prides herself on creating meaningful relationships with her clients in order to understand their issues and deliver in a way that suits them.

Lynne Stewart-Brindle is Deputy Chair and Partner at PAN Trustees UK LLP and a Group Board Director. She started her career in an independent pension consulting business, providing actuarial, technical and administration services to corporate clients; later becoming the shareholding CEO. Prior to becoming an independent trustee, her career spanned senior roles in consulting and pensions operations. Lynne is currently an independent trustee on a number of prominent UK DB and DC schemes.

Rosalind is a Partner in Linklaters’ Pension Funds team and has been practicing pensions law for 25 years. She heads up our cross-disciplinary Pensions Investment Practice.

Clients she works for include: Barclays UK Retirement Fund, MMC UK Pension Fund, Marks & Spencer Pension Scheme, Towers Perrin Pensions Funds, Universities Superannuation Scheme, TPT Retirement Solutions and a number of corporates including Unilever PLC, Centrica plc and AXA UK PLC.

Most recently she has advised the trustees of the AkzoNobel Benefit Builder and of the One-Stop Pension Scheme on their respective transfers into a master trust. She also sits on the PMI’s Master Trust Working Party.

BlackRock’s purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well-being. As a fiduciary to investors and a leading provider of financial technology, we help millions of people build savings that serve them throughout their lives by making investing easier and more affordable. For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com/corporate

Founded in 1921, Hymans Robertson is one of the longest established independent actuarial and consulting firms in the UK. We deliver a full range of services including actuarial, insurance consulting, investment consulting, third-party pensions administration and communications consulting.

We believe that good governance underpins every effectively run DC scheme. Whether it’s complying with 21st century Trusteeship requirements, regulatory codes and rules, or support with oversight or governance committees, trustees and employers need to seek strategies to run their scheme well and achieve better outcomes for their members.

We work with the UK’s most prestigious organisations, delivering inspiring governance DC solutions through our services that include help with: Board and operational effectiveness; Risk management; Policies and processes; Support with DC code and regulatory compliance; Holding providers and advisers to account; Support with professional trustee selection.

SEI is a leading provider of investment services to Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution pension schemes, working with over 480 institutions in 12 different countries. Starting with the goals of each pension scheme, SEI offers fully tailored Fiduciary Management and Master Trust solutions. Through its scale, expertise and over 20 years heritage of providing investment services, SEI aspires to give trustees greater control over the strategic development of their scheme whilst improving outcomes for pension members. For more information visit: https://seic.com/institutionaluk

We provide legal certainty in a changing world. Linklaters is a leading global law firm, supporting and investing in the future of our clients wherever they do business. We combine legal expertise with a collaborative and innovative approach to help clients navigate constantly evolving markets and regulatory environments, pursuing opportunities and managing risk worldwide.

Our mission is to transform pensions, savings and financial well-being, across all generations, around the world.

We’re here to help you manage the rapid changes happening in the UK pension industry and across the globe. We have evolved to become one of the largest workplace pension providers in the UK, with backing from global financial giants Legal & General Investment Management and J.P. Morgan.

We’re growing, not only in the UK but internationally, too, meaning that we can offer you:

- A multi-award-winning and digital experience for both you and your employees, before and after their retirement.

- Simple and secure processes for you as an employer and your employees as members, thanks to a commitment to technology, strong governance and customer service.

- The ability to adapt and innovate our products and services to suit your needs and the needs of your employees, thanks to our user-centric culture of innovation, improvement and evolution.

Pensions Age is the leading monthly magazine for Pension Funds, Consultants and Advisors to these funds. Pensions Age (paper version) looks to give in-depth analysis and commentary on the major issues affecting the UK pensions sector. Launched in 1996 the title has built up to now boast the largest circulation in the UK pensions press, of over 15,200 paper copies per month. Pensions Age is also the only title to have agreements with both the PLSA and PMI to reach all of their members. Over 28,000 copies of our digital edition also go to this key market (most readers will receive the publication in both formats).

Pensions Age also runs this leading sector website www.pensionsage.com, and an accompanying email newsletter. The website looks to break the leading news stories, and together with our newsfeed keep readers fully abreast of issues which will have an impact on their funds.

Pensions Age also runs several events, including 5 major conferences each year, Awards ceremonies including the prestigious ‘Pensions Age Awards’ and multiple roundtables.

Pensions Age is published by Perspective Publishing Limited (www.perspectivepublishing.com) who also publish the leading pan-European journal European Pensions (www.europeanpensions.net) European Pensions also runs the successful European Pensions Awards which are held in London each year, The Irish Pensions Awards, and our Insurance Asset Management brand that targets CIOs within insurance companies (www.insuranceassetmanagement.net).

WEALTH at work is a specialist provider of financial education and guidance in the workplace supported by regulated financial advice for individuals. WEALTH at work help employees understand how to maximise their workplace savings and benefits in the context of their overall financial position, by delivering financial education and guidance which is tailored to their needs. This involves segmenting the workforce into different cohorts to enhance employee engagement.

We are the UK’s leading specialist law firm for pension scheme trustees, employers, corporate investors and providers.

Our entire focus is on advising the pensions and retirement savings industry. We advise trustee boards, sponsoring employers, providers and Government bodies. With a client roster of more than 450 occupational pension schemes, expert legal advice is only the start of our service. We look at what our clients are trying to achieve and give the most commercial and pragmatic advice to reach that objective. This is one of the reasons we have so many long standing clients, with some relationships lasting decades.