Daniel is a Senior Client Relationship Manager for a selection of administration-only clients, each with between 2,000 and 5,000 members.
This involves working with the day-to-day administration teams for each client to ensure each set of members and trustees receive the service they expect, that their priorities are managed, and their scheme goals are achieved.
He provides expertise and support to schemes and teams across all offices on complex data and benefits-based project work, including GMP projects and the work involved in taking a scheme up to and through bulk annuity transactions.

David has spent his 30+ year career working in pensions and investment. The early years were spent in consulting, during which he qualified as an actuary before joining what is now Willis Towers Watson’s investment practice to advise UK and European clients on investment strategy. He then spent six years as Chief Investment Officer for The Pensions Trust before joining Lloyds Banking Group (Pensions Investment Team) as Head of Investment Strategy.

In that role David was responsible for all aspects of investment strategy including asset allocation, de-risking ‘triggers’, longevity hedging, re-balancing policy and responsible investment policy. He became Chief Investment Officer in February 2022.

Emily has over a decade of experience advising on employer covenant and related matters and has wide ranging experience of covenant issues including corporate transactions, restructuring, scheme mergers, apportionments, asset-backed contributions, long term funding arrangements, integrated risk management and PPF certification.

Emily is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) with a background in audit, corporate finance, and restructuring. Emily is Head of Covenant Assessment, leading our covenant assessment and monitoring offering and has been responsible for evolving our methodology and reporting so that we remain market leaders in this field.

With over 25 years’ experience, Janet advises employers and trustees of both DB and DC arrangements and she is the lead partner on various large multi-employer DB schemes across the oil, chemical and university sectors.
Her work covers documentation work, DC advice on funds, derisking transactions and helping both schemes and employers through the increasingly complicated world of pensions legislation. Her deep experience across a range of pensions work makes her a ‘go to’ adviser on complex and novel matters and her clients rate her and her pragmatic approach incredibly highly.
Janet is a member of SPP Council which represents a range of advisers and service providers in the pension industry. She is also a prolific commentator on legislative developments, most recently including the DB funding code and DWP regulations, and she is ranked as a leading lawyer in both Chambers UK and Legal 500.

John is a Partner in Linklaters’ Pension team. He advises trustees and corporates on all areas of pensions law, including corporate transactions, plan mergers and trustee and employer advisory work, including day-to-day aspects of operating occupational pension funds. He has in-depth knowledge of Section 75 issues, benefit changes and the powers of the Pensions Regulator.
John also has significant experience in international issues, particularly large multijurisdictional corporate transactions and on cross-border issues, and sits on the Association of Pension Lawyers’ International subcommittee.

Judith has 17 years’ experience in the pensions industry. She joined Cardano Advisory in 2014 having previously worked at Mercer and EY pensions advisory teams. She is an experienced actuary who has worked with both trustee and sponsor clients on their schemes’ journey plans on an ongoing advisory basis, as well as during times of significant changes to their employer covenants, with a focus on how alternative risk-transfer solutions can be deployed in these situations.

Judith also has deep experience of regulatory issues and TPR’s approach, having been seconded to TPR in 2017 and 2022.

Lara Edmonstone-West is a Director within the UK OCIO Business at BlackRock and joined the Firm in 2021. Lara's primary focus is on UK DB Pension Schemes and providing them with support in structuring an outsourced investment solution.

Previously Lara was Head of Business Development at Kempen Capital Management, and has held senior roles at River & Mercantile as a Lead Consultant and Head of Business Development, and also KPMG where Lara led the regional Reading Investment Practice. Lara has worked with schemes of varying sizes from 20m to 22bn, and on projects spanning setting up a new pension scheme to completing the journey to buy-out.

Outside of her day-to-day role, Lara is co-Head for EMEA for the Families and Allies (FAB) Network and is a Mental Health Ambassador. Lara is a CFA and CAIA Charterholder and holds a PhD and MSci from Imperial College London.

Richard Jones is the Managing Director of Punter Southall Pensions Solutions. He is a qualified actuary with almost 25 years industry experience, including over a decade heading up Punter Southall’s specialist employer consulting division, prior to the sale of all the pension consulting businesses in 2018. His particular specialism is the interaction of employer covenant with funding and investment, helping schemes to understand and navigate to the best long-term outcome for their specific circumstances. He has led over 300 complex pension projects during his career.

Robin is a lead consultant at Quietroom, a London-based communications consultancy specialising in pensions, investment and insurance. He has over 10 years’ experience in marketing and communications, helping organisations talk more clearly and powerfully to their customers about what they offer. Recently, his clients have included Standard Life, Aviva, Esure, the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme and HMRC.

Simon Blundell, Managing Director, is Head of Sterling Bond Portfolios within BlackRock's Fundamental Fixed Income. Simon is a member of the Global Fundamental Fixed Income Exco.

Prior to joining BlackRock in 2011, Simon was Head of Institutional Credit Portfolio Management at Aviva Investors where he oversaw assets across Euro, Sterling, and Global credit and aggregate products. Prior to joining Aviva in 2009, Simon spent 10 years at ABN AMRO Asset Management (later acquired by Fortis Investments where he stayed on for a year), most recently as Head of Credit. He previously held positions at HSBC Asset Management and Morgan Grenfell Asset Management.

Simon is lead portfolio manager on a number of strategies, including the BlackRock Absolute Return Bond Fund, BIBF All Stocks Corporate Bond Fund and BIBF Over 10 Year Corporate Bond Fund.

Simon is a member of the BlackRock UK Social Mobility Taskforce whose mission it is to increase representation of those from low socio-economic backgrounds at all levels of seniority across the firm, through focussing on hiring and promoting performance and potential over polish.

Sorca Kelly-Scholte, Managing Director, is Lead Client Chief Investment Officer for EMEA Pensions in Multi-Asset Strategies & Solutions (MASS).

The MASS team is the investment group at the heart of BlackRock's portfolio construction, asset allocation, and active management ecosystem. MASS draws on the full toolkit of BlackRock's index, factor, and alpha-seeking investment capabilities to deliver precise investment outcomes and cutting-edge alpha insights. MASS constructs active asset allocation strategies and whole portfolio solutions across a wide spectrum of commingled funds, separate accounts, model portfolios, and outsourcing solutions in the wealth and institutional channels. Prior to joining Blackrock in 2021, Ms Kelly-Scholte led the Pension Solutions team in EMEA at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, providing strategic advice and input to clients in the region. Before that, Sorca led strategic advisory services at Russell Investments to consulting and fiduciary management clients in Europe, designing investment strategy and de-risking glide paths for pension funds, and overseeing the implementation of those strategies. In her early career, Ms. Kelly-Scholte was a trainee actuary and consultant within the pensions team and investment consulting team at Coopers & Lybrand and Towers Perrin respectively. She has also served as a trustee on the J.P. Morgan UK Pension Plan, and continues to serve on the Policy Board of the Pensions & Lifetime Savings Association.

Ms. Kelly-Scholte holds a BA degree in Mathematics from Trinity College Dublin, and is a qualified actuary.