LPFA BOARD

John Preston is a non-executive director and professional trustee. In addition to his role as Chair of the London Pensions Fund Authority, he is currently Chair of the Sainsbury’s Pension Scheme and Chair of the Medical Research Council Pension Scheme. He is also past Treasurer and a Council member of the University of Bath and a past President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

John is a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser. He was a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers for 23 years until 30 June 2014 where he undertook a variety of client-related and management roles, both in the UK and globally. His primary client base was in the financial services sector, including banks, insurers and sovereign wealth funds. His management roles for a large part of the firm’s business included UK chief operating officer and UK head of risk, regulation and external relations in the UK, as well as global head of external relations and regulation.

Term: 1 January 2020 - 31 December 2023.

Declared interests of John Preston

Irshaad has worked in the pension and asset management industry for over 37 years with experience ranging from advising large pension plans in Canada on investment policy to managing UK and European asset management businesses and leading the investment team of a major Canadian corporate pension fund.

Irshaad is a member of the Board of Trustees and the Finance Committee of the Nuffield Trust. He is also a Trustee of the Cambridge Colleges Federated Pension Scheme.

Term: 1 January 2024 - 31 December 2027

Declared interests of Irshaad Ahmad.

Rita Bajaj has over 30 years’ experience working in global investment markets experience, leading investment teams at Royal London & Invesco Perpetual. She has also managed global and US equity vehicles for several US investment institutions and EMEA Chief Administrative Officer at custodian, State Street. She is also a former FCA regulator. 

Rita is ARC Chair and Senior Independent Director at Fidelity Life Insurance Ltd, an independent non-executive director for Benefact Group Plc & its subsidiary Edentree, Wesleyan Assurance and Columbia Threadneedle’s OEIC Boards. She is also an Independent Governance Committee member for Hargreaves Lansdown’s workplace SIPP. Rita is passionate about improving member investment outcomes which are both sustainable and incorporate ESG considerations.

Term: 18 May 2021 - 30 April 2025

Committees: Investment Committee

Declared interests of Rita Bajaj

Cllr Ruth Dombey has been a councillor at the London Borough of Sutton since 2002 and in 2012 became Leader of the Council. She is also one of the Vice Chairs of London Councils and a Deputy Chair of the Local Government Association Executive.

She plays an active role in local government in London and presently is a member of the London Transition Board (chaired by the Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP), the London Recovery Board and the London Health Board (both chaired by the Mayor of London).

Before becoming a councillor, Ruth worked in the financial information sector for Dow Jones Telerate and subsequently Knight Ridder.

Term: 19 October 2018 - 31 December 2022

Declared interests of Ruth Dombey

Belinda brings expertise in sustainability and climate change strategy, environmental social governance, responsible investing and assurance to FTSE 100 corporate boards. She has extensive experience across a wide range of sectors from natural resources, agri-commodities, fisheries and energy through the supply chain to consumer goods, retail and utilities.

Belinda founded strategy consultancy Decarbonize Ltd and is currently a non-executive board member of the Marine Management Organisation, Digital Catapult and a Trustee of the National Biodiversity Network. She has previous experience as a board member of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and the Roundtables for Sustainable Palm Oil and Responsible Soy Associations.

She holds a first class MBA and Diploma in Company Direction (Institute of Directors).

Term: 18 May 2021 - 30 April 2025

Committees: Investment Committee

Declared interests of Belinda Howell

Mandy is a highly experienced pensions specialist with over 15 years of experience in the field. She started her pensions career as a lawyer, supporting trustees and employers on a wide range of pension arrangements. 

In addition to her role on the LPFA Board, Mandy provides professional pension trustee and governance services to UK pension schemes. Her roles have provided her with significant experience of operating and managing pension schemes including maintaining an effective system of governance, regulatory compliance, managing fund assets, stakeholder management and ultimate responsibility for ensuring schemes are administered in the best interest of scheme members. 

She has specialist public sector pensions experience and has a deep understanding of the operations and regulatory framework governing the Local Government Pension Scheme. Mandy’s focus is on delivering positive outcomes for members and driving innovation through learning, adapting and evolving processes.

Mandy is a qualified solicitor and an accredited member of the Association of Professional Pension Trustees.

Term: 1 January 2024 - 31 December 2027

Declared interests of Mandy Kaur-Sadler

Sophia Morrell is the Director of UK Public Affairs for UK Finance, where she leads domestic government relations and advocates for the UK’s financial services sector. Prior to this, Sophia spent five years as a Political Adviser to Jonathan Reynolds MP in his roles as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Shadow City Minister.  

Sophia specialises in financial services policy and communications. She has worked both as an independent consultant and at a number of political and communications agencies including Lansons, Greentarget PR and Headland, after beginning her career as a journalist in 2007 covering capital markets during the financial crisis. 

Sophia was Chair of Labour in the City for three years and sat on the National Executive of the Young Fabians in 2015. She is an advocate for women in finance and in 2016, launched a report on the representation of women in the industry in association with the Institute for Chartered Accountants for England and Wales.

Term: 1 April 2022 - 31 March 2026

Declared interests of Sophia Morrell

Richard Olszewski has been a councillor at London Borough of Camden for more than 15 years. He is the cabinet member for finance and cost of living and also chairs Camden’s Pension Board.

Richard is also a member of the North London Waste Authority, the Greater London Employment Forum and the Greater London Provincial Council. He is a Local Government Association Member Peer, giving peer support to local authorities and mentoring to individual councillors in other authorities.

Since 2021, he has been a trustee of Electrical Safety First, the charity campaigning name of the Electrical Safety Council.

Richard was a special adviser to Cabinet minister, John Reid, in six cabinet roles, including Health, Transport and Northern Ireland.

By profession, Richard is a government relations and communications adviser. He has advised a range of private sector and non-profit organisations on a wide range of strategic business-critical and campaign issues, including financial services, regeneration and business ethical behaviours.

Term: 1 January 2023 - 31 December 2026

Declared interests of Richard Olszewski

Deborah Rees had a long City career researching and providing investment advice, primarily on international equities, to professional investors. She worked for Kleinwort Benson, Bank of America, Barclays and Exotix Capital.

In parallel with her city career, Deborah has always had a passion for international development and served on the Board and Investment Committee of the Leprosy Mission International for whom she is now a pension fund trustee. She is also a member of the Board and Audit & Risk Committees at The Methodist Insurance Company (where she chairs the Investment Committee), CBF Funds Trustees Ltd, and The Land Trust.

Term: 18 May 2021 - 30 April 2025

Committees: Audit & Risk Committee

Declared interests for Deborah Rees

Clare has worked in the pensions industry for over 30 years, having trained as an actuary. She specialises in governance and investment oversight. She also is a non-executive for the Scottish Public Pensions Agency and acts as an observer for the Fife Pension Fund. 

A large part of her career was spent at Lothian Pension Fund, the local government pension fund in Edinburgh, and includes five years as its Chief Executive. Her experience there includes expanding the internal investment team and in-sourcing investment management. Prior to that Clare worked as an investment consultant.

She lives in East Lothian and chairs her town’s ‘Bloom’ group.

Term: 18 May 2021 – 30 April 2025

Shareholder Non-Executive Director on the Local Pensions Partnership (LPP) Group Board

Declared interests of Clare Scott