LPFA appoints four new Board members
The Mayor of London has appointed four new Board members to the London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) with effect from 18 May 2021: Rita Bajaj, Belinda Howell, Deborah Rees and Clare Scott.
John Preston, Chair of LPFA said: “I am delighted to welcome Rita, Belinda, Debbie and Clare to the LPFA Board. Their expertise and experience will help us continue to deliver excellent service and value for money for our members and employers. I am looking forward to working with all four Board members to continue to strengthen LPFA’s governance and provide strategic steer on all matters including transparency against a challenging background of increased compliance and regulatory requirements.”
Robert Branagh, CEO of LPFA commented: “I’m very pleased that Rita, Belinda, Debbie and Clare have joined the LPFA Board. Their diverse professional background and extensive experience within the public sector will be invaluable in helping us continue to deliver our strategic objectives including managing the risks and opportunities posed by climate change and other Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors. I look forward to working with our new and existing Board Members to deliver on our significant obligations to members, employers and wider stakeholders.”
Rita Bajaj is Non-Executive Director, IGC member and a Chartered Financial Analyst with over 30 years’ broad financial markets experience. Previously, she held Senior investment portfolio manager positions at Global and UK Asset Managers, heading investment teams at Royal London & Invesco Perpetual and managed Global and US Equity Hedge fund vehicles for several major US Hedge Fund institutions. Her most recent Executive role was EMEA Chief Administrative Officer at custodian, State Street. Rita joined State Street from the Financial Conduct Authority where, she managed the supervision of large UK Asset Management and Custodian firms. In addition, she is a Member of Hargreaves Lansdown’s workplace SIPP Independent Governance Committee and a Senior Advisor to Sheffield Haworth.
Belinda Howell brings expertise in sustainability and climate change strategy, ESG, responsible investment 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 NED of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Marine Management Organisation and a Trustee of the National Biodiversity Network. She has previous experience as a director of engineering and infrastructure firm URS Corporation, chief executive of a start-up carbon and supply chain information technology provider and a nominee board member of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil and Roundtable for Responsible Soy Associations.
Deborah (Debbie) 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 and Risk Committees at The Methodist Insurance Company (where she chairs the Investment Committee), CBF Funds Trustees Ltd, and The Land Trust.
Clare Scott has worked in the pensions industry for 30 years and is currently a non-executive director and independent adviser to a number of public sector pension funds. She specialises in governance and investment oversight and is a qualified actuary. A large part of her career was spent at Lothian Pension Fund, the local government pension fund in Edinburgh, and includes 5 years as its Chief Executive. Her experience there includes expanding the internal investment team, in-sourcing investment management, managing actuarial valuations, and establishing the Pension Board. Prior to that Clare worked for an investment consultant.
Note to Editors
Contacts:
Tannaz Rastegar: 0204 566 6529, tannaz.rastegar@lpfa.org.uk
Alistair Peck: 0208 078 3884, alistair.peck@lpfa.org.uk
About the LPFA
The LPFA is a defined-benefit Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund with over 90,000 members, 135 contributing employers and, as at 31 December 2020, £6.7 billion of assets under management. LPFA and Lancashire County Council are each 50% shareholders of the Local Pensions Partnership Ltd, a pensions service provider for LGPS and other public sector pension funds. The LPFA’s assets are pooled via LPP together with those of the Lancashire County Pension Fund and the Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund.
Please note:
This press release has been prepared to inform the external media of certain information regarding London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA), the Local Pensions Partnership Ltd (LPP) and its subsidiaries, Local Pensions Partnership Investments Ltd (LPPI) and Local Pensions Partnership Administration Ltd (LPPA), subject to the following disclaimer.
LPFA does not provide advice on legal, taxation or investment matters and no statements information or data published by or otherwise made available to the public by the LPFA whether directly or indirectly and in any form (including written, oral or electronic/digital) should be relied upon for any purpose including (but not limited to) investment decisions. No other person or entity may rely or make decisions based on the content of this press release, whether they receive it with or without LPFA’s consent, and this disclaimer is repeated fully in respect of any such third party. This press release may contain ‘forward-looking statements’ with respect to certain plans and current goals and expectations relating to LPFA’s future financial condition, performance results, strategic initiatives and objectives. By their nature, all forward-looking statements are inherently predictive and speculative and involve known and unknown risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances which are beyond LPFA’s control. Any projections or opinions expressed are current as of the date hereof only and subject to this disclaimer. Without limitation to the aforesaid, this press release and its contents is provided ‘as is’ without any representation or warranty (express or implied), and no member of the LPFA nor any of their respective directors, officers and employees shall be held liable howsoever to any person or entity, as to the appropriateness, accuracy or completeness of the information provided herein.