- Wolf Becke joins as independent member of the Pension Superfund Commitments Committee
Following the appointment of Luke Webster as its new CEO, The Pension SuperFund is delighted to announce the appointment of Chris Hitchen as Chairman of The Pension SuperFund. In addition, Wolf Becke joins as Independent Member of the Pension SuperFund Commitments Committee, which will consider new transactions and recommend them to investors and the Superfund trustees.
Chris Hitchen brings over thirty years’ experience in pensions and investments. He chairs the Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, a consolidator for £46 billion of local authority fund assets, and industry-wide pension schemes totalling £5 billion for The Pensions Trust (TPT). Chris sits on the Board of NEST, the seven million member DC scheme, and the Toronto-based International Centre for Pensions Management, a global hub for best practice amongst asset owners.
For almost twenty years, Chris led the £28 billion Railways Pension Trustee Company first as CIO and then as CEO. He was elected Chair of the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association from 2007-2009 and became the inaugural chair of the Pensions Quality Mark. Chris was appointed to the Advisory Board for Professor John Kay’s 2012 review of short-termism in the UK stock market and now sits on the Board of the Investor Forum, which emanated from it. He is an advisory board member for Aquila Capital and for the AQR Asset Management Institute at the London Business School. Chris is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (FIA), an Honorary Fellow of the CFA Society of the UK (FSIP), and a Governor of the Pensions Policy Institute.
Chris Hitchen commented, “I have spent my career working to improve retirement outcomes for workers and savers and believe that well-run, right-scaled institutions are vital if the UK is to achieve this aim. The Pension Superfund is an important and timely innovation which can help both scheme members and scheme sponsors, and I look forward to helping Luke and his team make it a success.”
Wolf is a true leader and innovator in the insurance, pensions and ALM arena. He was CEO of Hannover Life Re from 1999 to 2011 where he developed the organisation into a well-diversified, internationally active life and health reinsurer. Under Wolf’s guidance, Hannover Life Re became the first counter-party in longevity reinsurance for Pension Insurance Corporation plc and is counted as a pioneer in this risk transfer market. Wolf started his business career in reinsurance at Hamburg International Re ending up in charge of life reinsurance, accounting and investments. He is currently serving as Chairman of the supervisory board at AEGON Blue Square Re N.V.; deputy chairman of the supervisory board of FWU AG and Chairman of the board of directors at Vitality Life Ltd. which continues to disrupt the UK life insurance marketplace.
Luke Webster CEO said, “I am delighted to welcome Chris and Wolf and look forward to working with them and drawing on their exceptional experience across the industry. We are building a team at The Pension SuperFund that will ensure first class leadership and governance for the future, all united by our purpose to improve the security of members’ pension promises. Today’s appointments are an important step as we continue preparations towards our first deal. We will be strengthening the team further over the coming days.”
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For further information, please contact:
Rimmi Shah 0207 294 3670
Robbie Steel 0207 294 3616
Lansons