Judges

Nick has been Head of Pensions and Treasury at Kent County Council since February 2022, with overall responsibility for all aspects of the £8 Billion Kent Pension Fund. Since his appointment at Kent, he has overseen the conclusion of a Governance review of the Fund, including implementing an integrated management team and developing a One Fund approach. He has also driven the development of the Fund’s approach to sustainable investing including setting a Net Zero target in 2023.

Prior to Kent he was a Senior Consultant with JLT and more recently Mercer, for nearly 6 years. During his time as a consultant Nick focussed entirely on the LGPS and has more than 30 years’ experience in the sector, including more than 20 years at the Dorset County Pension Fund.

During his time at Dorset, Nick represented the Society of County Treasurers on the group responsible for creating the Scheme Advisery Board advising the Local Government Minister. He was also a member of the DCLG’s Investment Regulations Review Group which developed the current regulatory framework.

He is an active contributor to the ACCESS pool and Chairs the Officer Working Group. He is also a member of the PLSA Local Authority Committee. Nick represents LGPS practitioners on the Scheme Advisery Board Investment and Governance Sub-Committee.

Elizabeth Carey, CFA serves as Independent Investment Advisor to the LGPS funds administered by Torfaen-Greater Gwent and Bedfordshire. In this capacity, she advises on a wide range of topics including private markets, strategic asset allocation, liquid markets asset classes / multi-asset, performance evaluation, liquidity considerations, funding levels, responsible investment/stewardship and risk management. She draws on her decades of experience working at two investment banks in the US and London, as well as a senior in-house M&A role at a large US industrial conglomerate. Alongside working for her LGPS clients, Elizabeth speaks at selected LGPS-related conferences and frequently serves on judging panels for the UK investment management industry. Beyond her professional commitments, Elizabeth is Chair of Governors of a Camden maintained secondary school, and also chairs the Finance & Premises Committee of a Westminster secondary school, an academy serving pupils with special needs, where she is a governor.

Bob was head of Wandsworth’s pension fund being appointed as Pensions Manager in 1998. When he left Wandsworth the find investment returns were in the top 5 of all local government funds over 1, 3, 5 and 10 year periods. He has since assisted West Midlands Pension Fund with investment and other issues.

He drove the formation of collective investment vehicles setting out the framework that most pools still follow. He has sat on many scheme wide bodies including two committees on the shadow scheme advisory board, officer advisory group and technical group. He has also assisted DCLG on their regulation review group.

Paul joined the Durham County Council Pension Fund in 2019, and as Head of Pensions is responsible for the management of all aspects of the Fund’s activity which is concerned with the management of a £3.7bn Pension Fund with over 60,000 current and former members. The Fund is part of the Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, founded to manage the investments of like-minded Local Government Pension Funds, which is now the UK’s largest asset manager outside of the traditional London and Edinburgh centres. As well as working collaboratively on development of Border to Coast sub-funds and undertaking oversight of investment performance; Paul exercises the Council’s shareholding in the company. Under Paul’s leadership, the Durham Fund provided the cornerstone funding for the £90m North-East Regional Investment Fund which supports growth companies across all sectors, stages and transaction types which are headquartered or have significant operations in the North-East region. Previously, he was a senior manager at the Tyne and Wear Pension Fund. In addition to his role at the Fund, Paul is a non-executive director on the board of Chapter Homes and is a Board Member of the Bishop Auckland & Shildon Area Action Partnership.

Dafydd is Board Chair for Powys Pension Fund, covering the mid-Wales region, and a company NED for Adra, as well as being part-time Treasurer and Pension Board Chair at North Wales Fire Authority.  

Until retiring in 2023, he had been Statutory Finance Officer at both Gwynedd Council and Snowdonia National Park for 20 years.  

In addition to the usual Finance Director duties, he had responsibility for the £3bn Gwynedd Pension Fund covering the north-west Wales region, and chaired the officer group which forged the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) LGPS pool

George joined the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority as Director in February 2018 and as Head of Paid Service is responsible for the management of all aspects of the Authority’s activity which is concerned with the management of a £10.5bn Pension Fund with over 170,000 members. Previously he was Managing Director of Local Pensions Partnership’s pension administration business, having led the Lancashire County Pension Fund prior to the transfer of its staff to LPP as part of the creation of a joint venture with the London Pension Fund Authority. A fellow of CIPFA George’s previous career in local government finance involved roles as Deputy County Treasurer at Lancashire County Council, Executive Director of Resources at Rossendale BC and Director of Finance at Chorley BC preceded by roles at Northamptonshire CC and Oxfordshire CC where he did his CIPFA training. George also represents practitioners on the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board for England and Wales and is a member of the Board’s Responsible Investment Advisory Group.

Matthew joined the Border to Coast Pensions Partnership CRM team in January 2024, specifically to work with its 11 LGPS Partner Funds and the internal teams and establish the UK Real Estate proposition. He is also working with the wider senior management team to evolve the future strategy for Border to Coast, now the largest LGPS pool in the UK. Prior to joining Border to Coast, Matthew spent 13 years at Aviva Investors, most recently as Head of UK Pensions, where he was responsible for overseeing Aviva Investors’ £10bn of UK institutional clients and the distribution of investment solutions to UK pension schemes, across the public and private sectors. Matthew has 25 years institutional distribution and investment experience, including 15 years working with the LGPS, with time spent at firms including Pioneer Investments, DIAM International and Henderson Global Investors.

He also spent 6 years as a non-executive director on the Board of AIMSE International.

Philip has over 44 years’ experience in the securities industry, having been with Charterhouse Securities (formerly Tilney & Co) for 20 years, being appointed a Director in 1992.

In 2000 Philip joined Merseyside Pension Fund as Head of UK Equities, where he was responsible for research and portfolio structure decisions for the internally managed portfolio.

Philip was a Non Executive Director of Aberdeen Private Equity Fund from 2009 until 2018.

Philip is the Independent Investment Advisor to Worcestershire Pension Fund (since 2012) and to Shropshire County Pension Fund (2023) and is an External Member of West Yorkshire Pension Fund’s Investment Advisory Panel (2020). He is the alternate advisor to five other LGPS Funds (London Borough of Camden, Derbyshire, Devon, Durham & Wiltshire).

Philip was appointed as a Senior Advisor to Alpha Real in 2021.

With over 40 years’ experience in public sector pensions, Jeff started his career at Merseyside Pension Fund before moving to London where he held a variety of posts with several Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) administering authorities.

In 2011 Jeff took on the role of Head of Pensions at the Local Government Association where he advised on the development of national and European policy for public service pensions, in particular the funded Local Government and the unfunded Teachers and Firefighters schemes. In 2015 he added the role of Secretary to the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisery Board (England and Wales).

During his time with LGA Jeff served on a number of national and international boards including the EU Social Protection Taskforce, the FCA’s Institutional Disclosure Working Group and the Cost Transparency Initiative.

Since April 2022 Jeff has been working part time with Barnett Waddingham LLP as a senior pensions consultant in the public sector team, specialising in the ever-growing governance requirements of the LGPS as well as taking on a number of other project based consultancy and recruitment roles within the scheme.

Neil leads the £5b+ Surrey Pension Fund, with over 110,000 members and nearly 350 employers. Surrey is one of the 11 LGPS partner funds that make up the Border to Coast asset pool. He has led the reorganisation of Surrey pensions over the last 2 years and believes excellence in service delivery is best achieved through an integrated pension service with equal emphasis on all elements of the business. The Surrey Fund has received pension industry acknowledgement for its outstanding approach to risk management, governance, responsible investing and most recently administration. Neil is a member of the PLSA Policy Board and Chair of its Local Government Committee. He is also the independent Chair of the Local Pension Board for the London Borough of Hounslow. He is the father of twin boys who are both off doing far more interesting things than he ever did at university. In his spare time he supports Queens Park Rangers and three putts. 

Since 2019 Kevin has been the Director of the ACCESS Support Unit – a team that supports the pool’s Joint Committee and operates as a client unit for the eleven ACCESS LGPS Authorities within central, eastern and southern England. In total the ACCESS Authorities have pooled around £35bn, of which around £24bn is currently invested across 26 actively managed sub-funds within an Authorised Contractual Scheme (ACS) overseen by Link Fund Solutions, ACCESS’s appointed Operator. A further £11bn is managed on by UBS, the ACCESS pool’s collectively procured passive manager. Prior to his current role with ACCESS, Kevin was Director of the Essex Pension Fund. In 20 years with that Fund Kevin’s experience covered evolving investment strategies & structures, implementing Actuarial Valuations and employer engagement

Gamekeeper turned poacher turned gamekeeper…

Tracey is currently Pensions Investments Manager for the c£2bn LB Southwark Pension Fund, having joined in March 2023.

Prior to this, Tracey was AXA IM’s dedicated Local Authority Client Director for core assets: with a role that encompassed both business development and ongoing relationship management for LGPS and treasury clients. Tracey joined AXA IM in 2012 having previously been Pensions and Treasury Manager at Surrey County Council, which she joined in 1991 as a trainee accountant. Latterly she was responsible for managing relationships with multiple Pension Fund stakeholders including service providers such as actuaries, investment consultants and fund managers.

Tracey is a member of CIPFA and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Essex University. In her spare time she spends far too much money on yarn and gardening supplies.

Mike is an experienced CEO, CFO and NED with interests in public finance, housing, pensions and investments. He is currently a non-executive board member for both Public Sector Audit Appointments and for Local Pensions Partnership Administration. He is also a non-executive board member and Senior Adviser UK for XTP Ltd, a specialist consultancy working with asset owners and focusing on transparency, cost, and risk.

He was formerly the Chief Executive Officer at London CIV, the LGPS pension pool for the London boroughs and the City of London and has over 30 years' experience in local government finance and corporate services functions, having spent 13 years at the London Borough of Camden and serving as interim finance director at Birmingham City Council and the London Borough of Newham. Mike is a former President of the Society of London Treasurers and a former Chair of the London Finance Advisery Committee.

He is also a former NED and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of the London Pension Fund Authority.

Anthony has been the Treasury and Pension Investments Manager for Carmarthenshire County Council (host authority of the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP)) since February 2007. He is a qualified ACCA accountant and manages the Treasury Management, Banking and Technical Accountancy services of the Council and the Fund Investments, Accounting and Governance of the £3.2bn Dyfed Pension Fund. He attends Cross Pool Collaboration Group meetings on behalf of the WPP.

He has worked in financial services his entire career including Redbridge Health Authority, Inner London Probation Service, Dyfed County Council and Pembrokeshire County Council. He is treasurer of Carmarthen Town Football Club, a qualified workplace coach and a keen cyclist, raising money for charitable organisations each year.

Clare has worked in the pensions industry for over 30 years and is currently a non-executive and independent adviser to a number of public sector pension funds. She specialises in governance and investment oversight. A large part of her career was spent at Lothian Pension Fund, the local government pension fund in Edinburgh, the latter 6 years as its Chief Executive. Her experience there includes revamping governance, in-sourcing investment management and investment collaboration with some other Scottish funds. Prior to that Clare worked as an investment consultant. She lives in East Lothian. She enjoys gardening and learning to play bridge.

Jenny Segal is a speaker and author, and is passionate about improving workplace culture to motivate employees and help businesses perform. She has written three books on motivation at work: Building Better Workplace Cultures, Purpose & Hybrid Working and Board Effectiveness & Culture and is writing a fourth on Women & Workplace Culture.

She has had a long and varied career in finance, starting her professional life with a Mathematics degree from the University of Oxford and going on to qualify as an actuary. Initially working in technical roles as a pensions and investment consultant, she gravitated towards the people side of the business. With her flair for management and communication, Jenny has specialised in leading global sales teams for large asset management companies, most recently as Global Head of Distribution for Fidelity International.

Following a spat with cancer which gave her an interesting perspective on purpose, resilience and the importance of image, she now enjoys a portfolio career encompassing public speaking, writing, consultancy and non-executive directorships.  She is an ambassador for The Diversity Project and  Chief Investment Officer for Nesta Trust.

When she is not working, Jenny spends her time preparing for a piano diploma, running half-marathons and taking (what she hopes are) beautiful photographs.

Dawn is an Independent Advisor and Non-Executive with expertise in Responsible Investment, Sustainable Finance and Environmental, Social and Governance risks. Her portfolio of independent and advisory roles includes NED on People's Pension Mastertrust Investment Board, Advisory Committee Member and Independent Institutional Investment Advisor for Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and Man Group Community Housing, Independent Chair of the Gwent Police Joint Audit Committee. She was the former Chief Executive of the LGPS pool, £30 billion investment management company Brunel Pension Partnership, after being Chief Pensions Officer for the Environment Agency Pension Fund. She is committed to ensuring that the influence of financial institutions is focused on addressing the direct and indirect financial risks of the world, especially those generated from environmental, social and governance activity,  in order to create sustainability for all.

As the GLA’s Chief investment Officer, Luke directs the GLA Group’s treasury shared service and oversees major project finance and impact investment including net zero carbon initiatives, London-focussed VC and housing. He has 18+ years' experience in corporate treasury, pension fund management, and private markets.

Mike has spent over 30 years managing and investing for public, private and, charity sector pension schemes. He is an Independent Trustee at Pi Partnership and the longstanding independent Chair of Trustees of the Institute of Cancer Research Pension Scheme. Mike is also establishing a portfolio of Advisery, consulting and non-executive roles within the UK pensions and investment management industry.

In his executive career Mike’s most recent role was CEO of LGPS Central Limited. Under his leadership assets more than doubled to c£30bn, with several multi-billion-pound fund launches and the establishment of investment fund vehicles which now span both public and private markets asset classes. He drove the responsible investment agenda, more than doubled the team in Wolverhampton to 80 skilled investment professionals and delivered the investment performance and cost savings to support long-term pension payments by Partner Funds to their scheme members.

Prior to this Mike was CEO of the Pensions Infrastructure Platform, at the time a pension scheme owned specialist UK infrastructure investor and Chief Investment Officer for the pension schemes of DMGT plc.