Asset Owners Network Members

Chair, HSBC (UK) Bank Pension Trust

Chair of the network

Russell Picot is Chair of the Trustee board of the HSBC Bank (UK) Pension Fund and a former Director of LifeSight, Willis Towers Watson’s UK DC Master Trust Board where he chaired the Audit and Risk Committee. 

Russell retired as Group Chief Accounting Officer at HSBC in 2016, having joined HSBC in 1993.  He was appointed a Group General Manager in 2003.  

Russell was a co-chair of the FSB’s Enhanced Disclosure Task Force and is a Special Advisor to the Financial Stability Board’s Climate-related Financial Disclosures Task Force, chaired by Michael Bloomberg. He has supported A4S since its inception in 2004 and is an ambassador for the International Integrated Reporting Council. He has been recently appointed to the Independent Climate Change Commission for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

He is a Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership and an Honorary Professor in Durham University Business School. He chairs the IIGCC Investor Practices Programme.

Chair, BBC Pensions Trust

Vice-Chair of the network

Catherine Claydon is the Independent Chair of the BBC Pension Trust. She is also an Independent Trustee on the Board of the new British Steel Pension Scheme. Previous appointments have included Deputy Chair of the BT Pension Scheme Trustees Ltd., Independent Trustee and Chair of Investment Advisory Group of the Barclays UK Retirement Fund, as well as independent member of the Unilever UK Pension Fund Investment Committee. She has held Non-Executive Directorships at the London Metal Exchange Limited, Hermes Fund Managers Ltd, Witan Investment Trust and Dunedin Income Growth Investment Trust. Her executive background includes more than 20 years’ experience in investment banking, with 15 years spent at Goldman Sachs, latterly as a Managing Director in the Pension Advisory Group. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Huron University College (where she now sits on the Board of Governors) and an MBA from The Wharton Business School. 

Board Member, Legal and General IGC

For most of the last twenty years Daniel has held CEO roles at City trade associations, firstly as Director General of the Association of Investment Companies (1998-2009) and then as Chief Executive of the Investment Association, the trade body for the UK’s £8 trillion asset management industry (2012-2015). He is currently a Senior Adviser to Federated Hermes, the $600bn Asset manager and an Independent Non-Executive Director at Moneybox, the fastest growing FinTech investment platform for Millennials. He is a member of Legal & General’s Independent Governance Committee, with responsibility to protect the interests of 2m customers and over £25bn of their pensions investments. He is a Director at the Institute for Economics & Peace, the world’s leading think tank exploring the intersection between peace, business and economics.

Independent Chair, Brightwell Pensions

Denise is Board Chair at Brightwell Pensions and Chair of their Board's Remuneration Committee

Denise was recently Chair of Brunel Pension Partnership Ltd for 8 years, an investment company established by 10 Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds to manage their combined £30 billion investment assets. Denise was also formally Chair of the LGA’s Local Government Pension Committee (LGPC) and served as Board Member on the LGPS Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) from inception to May 2019. She has also served as Co-Chair of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF).

In another capacity, Denise is Chair of the JPM Chase UK Retirement Plan.

Originally from Canada, Denise has a BA from Carleton University. She left Canada in 1985 to complete an MBA at INSEAD and subsequently pursued a career in banking at Salomon Brothers, Chase Manhattan and IBJ.

Chair, Universities Superannuation Scheme 

Kate Barker is presently chair of the trustee board at the Universities Superannuation Scheme. Most of Kate’s career has been as a business economist, or as an adviser on economic policy. She was a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee from 2001-2010. Having chaired major reviews of housing and planning in mid-2000s, in 2014 she published ‘Housing: Where’s the Plan’.

Chair, LifeSight

Simon has held a series of senior executive roles during a 40-year career in financial services. He was Global Head of Client Segments at HSBC GAM, Managing Director of Legal & General Unit Trust Management, Managing Director of Multi-Manager at Fidelity International, CEO of Multi-Manager and Head of UK Retail at AXA Investment Managers and Head of UK Retail at Henderson Global Investors.

Since 2019 Simon has built a portfolio of non-executive roles, providing challenge and support to the senior executives of multiple Boards including as Chair of both Morgan Stanley Investment Managment (ACD) UK, and of LifeSight (Mastertrust) Ltd.

He is a well-known public speaker, and an active participant in industry and public affairs with the Investment Association. 

Chair, Tesco Pension Fund

Ruston has over 35 years experience in the pension fund and investment industry.

He was the former Group Pensions, Insurable Risk and People Director at Tesco and CEO of Tesco Pension Investment Ltd - FCA approved in house investment manager.

Ruston is now the Chair of the Tesco Pension Fund (DB and DC) and Tesco Pension Investment Ltd, Non Exec Chair of JP Morgan Asset Management (EMEA), Non Exec Chair of Smart Pension Ltd, Non Exec Chair of PTL Ltd, Independent Trustee and Chair of the Funding and Investment Committee for the BAE Pension Fund, Governor of the PPI and Chair of GroceryAid (charity for the grocery industry).

Ruston was Co Chair of the DWP’s 2017 Auto Enrolment Review Board, led the Simpler Annual Statement initiative launched in 2018, chaired the cross regulator and industry ‘Standardised Assumptions Group’ and was on the Treasury’s Patient Capital DC Steering Group.  He’s also a former Chair of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association.

Chair, Diageo UK Pension Fund

Peter is Chair of the Diageo UK Pension Fund, Guinness Pension Fund Ireland and ANZ UK Pension Fund. His executive career was in Treasury and Banking. He was also the Chair of Barclays UK Retirement Fund.

Chair, Electricity Pensions Trustee Limited (EPTL)

Melanie is an accredited professional trustee with over 35 years’ experience in the pensions industry. Prior to trusteeship, Melanie worked as a consulting Actuary in the UK, Hong Kong and Australia. Melanie represents a wide range of occupational pension schemes, both as a board member and Chair of Trustees. Her expertise spans DB, DC, and Master Trusts, and complex multi-employer schemes. Her current appointments are with ZEDRA, TPT and MNRPF.

Melanie is a regular panellist, speaker, and contributor to the pensions press. She is Chair of the Winmark Pensions Chair network, participates in TPR’s Scheme and Practitioner Panel and has been a judge for the Pensions Age awards.

Melanie was also announced as 2023’s Trustee of the Year at the Professional Pensions Women in Pensions Awards.

Chair of the Trustee, Cancer Research UK Pension Scheme

Roger Cooper is Head of Trusteeship at Pi Partnership Group and has over thirty-five years’ experience in the benefits industry. He is an Accredited Professional Trustee and has focused on providing professional, independent trusteeship for over ten years. He now acts as Chair to a number of Trustee Boards.

He works with a range of scheme sponsors, including large overseas owners and small family businesses. His expertise includes helping address conflicts of interest, dealing with the impact of mergers and acquisitions, leading complex funding discussions and liability management exercises.

He been instrumental in the development of Pi Pension Trustees and is passionate about the principles of ESG and the role of the Pension Trustee in driving forward the climate change agenda.

Roger is a member of the Association of Professional Pension Trustees, a committee member of the PMI Trustee Group Forum, Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute, an associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and is a regular speaker at PMI and other industry events.

Board Member, Environment Agency Pension Fund

Before joining Esmée Fairbairn Foundation as Chief Executive, Caroline was Chief Operating Officer at Big Society Capital and preceding that, Charity Bank. Caroline was also the co-founder of Investing for Good, a social investment advisory firm and one of the first Community Interest Companies. Before joining the social sector, Caroline had an eighteen-year track record of creative and innovative product development in the financial services sector. With Reuters, she managed the global development of real-time news and television services and then pioneered the introduction of web technology products. She also had her own consulting company, working with several financial institutions to develop new business and products including an electronic brokering service and a global wealth management business for a private bank. 

Caroline is a Board Member of the Environment Agency, a Board Member of the Impact investing Institute, and Chair of the Foundations Forum. 

Chair, University Pension Plan Ontario

Gale Rubenstein is a partner at Goodmans LLP. She has been recognized as a leading practitioner in the fields of corporate restructuring, pensions and regulatory matters over her lengthy career with Goodmans.

Gale has represented the Province of Ontario in the Stelco, General Motors and Chrysler restructurings, in which creative approaches to pension matters were key. She also acted as the provincial facilitator for public sector jointly sponsored pension plan negotiations, involving Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) Pension Plan, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and OPTrust.

From 2007 to 2009, during the financial crisis, Gale represented the Investors’ Committee dealing with asset-backed commercial paper.

Gale served on the Board of Hydro One from 2007 to 2018. She currently serves on the Boards of the Scarborough Health Network and Outside the March Theatre Company and on the Social Services and Seniors Committee of the United Jewish Appeal and on the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Advisory Panel.

Gale earned a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Osgoode Law School.

Partner and Managing Director, Ndapt

Marcus Hurd MA FIA MBA AMAPPT is a professional trustee and non-executive director working with a range of pension schemes and employers to create positive impact for members, employers and the world around us. His appointments include private sector DB pension funds, a DB Master Trust, and charitable organizations.

He is Chair of the Institute of Actuaries Sustainability Board and a keen advocate of promoting ESG investing within pension funds