People moves
Len Currie has joined Standard Life from KPMG where he was a senior pension and employee benefits consultant. Mr Currie will report to Louise Kay, head of UK institutional business development and will be responsible for working with institutional investors to develop business opportunities and further strengthen SLI’s market presence.
Colm Fagan resigned in April as an employee and director of Life Strategies, the Dublin-based consultancy which he founded in September 1993. He will however retain a consultancy association with Life Strategies for a small number of his long-standing clients. Dermot Corry will continue to lead Life Strategies. Mr Fagan plans to pursue a range of activities, including acting as non-executive director, both in the financial sector and otherwise.
Hewitt Associates has appointed Pantelis Argyrou to its pensions consulting team in Cyprus. Mr Argyrou, who will be based in Hewitt’s Nicosia office, joins from Towers Perrin. Most recently, he worked in its international practice in London, leading client teams consulting with a number of multinational clients and managing several multiple country projects. Prior to this, Mr Argyrou spent five years working with the UK Government Actuary’s Department in social security work for governments around the world, as well as pensions-related work for UK local authorities. In addition, Hewitt Associates has announced the return of Neil Smith to its UK Investment Consulting team. Mr Smith previously spent six years at Hewitt from 1999 to 2005, and will be rejoining its London office to provide investment advice to pension scheme trustees. Mr Smith rejoins Hewitt from KPMG, where he was a principal investment consultant within the Investment Advisory team.
Peter Wright and Stuart Thompson, principals at the Tillinghast insurance consulting business of Towers Perrin, both retired from the company at the end of 2007. Mr Wright, who joined the consultancy in 1999, was vice-president of the Institute of Actuaries from 2004 to 2006, and during the latter years of his career was a significant contributor to the IFRS and Solvency II debates. He has been appointed as a non-executive director of Countrywide Assured. Mr Thompson was a member of the 2001 Fair Valuation Working Party and contributed to a number of prize-winning papers. After his 18 years as a principal with Towers Perrin, he now intends to take a well-earned rest.
Hymans Robertson has appointed Andrew Gaches as a longevity consultant. He joins Hymans Robertson from Aon Consulting where he was head of the actuarial practice in London. Mr Gaches is also a contributor to the profession’s research into the longevity of pension scheme members, and sits on the Continuous Mortality Investigation’s Self- Administered Pension Schemes Mortality Committee.
Hymans Robertson has also announced the appointment of Richard Shackleton as scheme actuary and partner. Previously a European partner at Mercer Human Resource Consulting and head of Mercer’s Brentwood office, Mr Shackleton joins the actuarial practice in a consulting role. In addition to providing trustee advice, his focus will also be on developing Hymans Robertson’s corporate offering.
Steven Blackie has joined Mercer as a principal and senior investment consultant in its Edinburgh office. Mr Blackie will have responsibility for the investment consulting business in Scotland. Mr Blackie has joined from Aon Consulting where he held the role of commercial director for Scotland and head of Aon’s Scottish Practice. Before joining Aon he worked for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (now BlackRock) in London as a client relationship director and Japanese equity product specialist. Mr Blackie will take over his role from Anne Kershaw.
Mercer has also appointed Gabriella Franco as principal in the international team. Ms Franco will provide consulting advice for multinational clients and will have a specific focus on Southern Europe and Italy. She joins from the Global Consulting Group at Towers Perrin where she took the lead in developing new business with Italian and British multinationals and managing global benefits projects.
Chris Sheasby has also been appointed as a senior associate in its retirement business. Based in London, Mr Sheasby will provide actuarial advice to a portfolio of pension schemes as well as advising on merger and acquisition issues. Mr Sheasby joins Mercer from Hymans Robertson, where he was an actuary to three schemes, as well as holding responsibility for managing and developing client teams.
Please send news of moves, promotions, retirements and appointments to peoplemoves@the-actuary.org.uk
