Insights and inspiration from LGPS leaders past and present

by Mike Thatcher
in LGPS
— 10 May, 2022

Four current and former LGPS leaders have recently given powerful and insightful interviews as part of the Fiftyfaces podcast, which showcases inspiring investors and their stories.

Hosted by Aoifinn Devitt, chief investment officer at Moneta and independent advisor to four LGPS pension funds, the Fiftyfaces podcast provides an opportunity for a discussion at length with a range of investment and finance leaders.

The mini-series of LGPS interviews involved: Chris Hitchen, chairman of the Border to Coast Pensions Partnership; Mike O’Donnell, chief executive officer for London CIV; Doug Heron, CEO of CERN Pension Fund (and formerly CEO at Lothian Pension Fund); and David Vickers, chief investment officer at Brunel Pensions Partnership.

Each interview covers the individual’s background and career journey, leadership and governance issues, responsible investing, the challenges they have faced and their personal reflections.

Hitchen emphasised resilience and the longevity of institutions. “The important point to remember is that pension schemes last for decades, sometimes even centuries, and so we need to try to build some of that longevity into the teams that run them as well,” he said.

Listen to Chris Hitchen here

Longevity and resilience are also important in terms of governance, Hitchen suggested. It was important for boards to have some turnover to ensure that they were “refreshed”, while retaining an element of continuity in membership.

O’Donnell, who has just announced that he is standing down as London CIV CEO in March 2023, also highlighted governance issues. “You need to invest time and effort in good governance,” he said. Appropriate education and training of committees was vital, to give them “time to develop their knowledge before they take a decision”.

Listen to Mike O’Donnell here

Heron brought it back to the core requirement – to provide secure retirement incomes for scheme members. Whether overseeing pensions at CERN, one of the world’s largest centres for scientific research, or previously at Lothian Pension Fund, the goal is straightforward.

Listen to Doug Heron here

“The key focus is simply making sure that we pay and continue to be able to pay those pensions when they fall due. Here [at CERN] my operations are on a more international scale, but they are similar in terms of the theme of the work we do day in and day out.”

Listen to David Vickers here

Vickers believes in “pragmatism and process” in his leadership role at Brunel. ‘Every person, every institution, needs to be flexible and their investment process should reflect their experience, their resource, the governance structure and, ultimately, be aligned with their definition of success, which includes the time horizon.”

He adds that you “can’t quality control an outcome … but you can quality-control the decision-making process”.

Vickers also discussed his vision for building a sustainable investment portfolio and outlined the recent development of the Paris-aligned equity indices that Brunel launched in partnership with FTSE Russell.

The Fiftyfaces podcast can be accessed here.