The home of good pension scheme governance

Susan Smith

Susan is Head of Consultancy and has over twenty five years’ experience in the pensions industry, working in benefits consulting, administration, secretariat services and pensions management. She now provides secretariat services to a number of Trustee Boards providing a wide range of benefits.

Previously, Susan worked in a variety of roles within Mercer, undertaking various management duties. She has worked with a range of trustee boards, employers and advisers in helping to establish appropriate and proportionate governance frameworks.

Since joining Pi, Susan has spearheaded our DC governance proposition for trustees and employers. A prominent member of the pensions industry, she is a Fellow and council member of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI), for whom she is a regular speaker. She also holds the PMI Certificate in Pensions Automatic Enrolment.

Sandra Harvey

Sandra provides a range of trustee board services including scheme secretary, trustee governance and adviser reviews. She has over 15 years’ experience in the pensions industry mainly as a key member of in- house pension teams including Guardian Royal Exchange, Scottish Equitable, GUS, Pearson and most recently GlaxoSmithKline prior to joining Pi Consulting in October 2016.

In her role as pension scheme secretary she has been involved in the design of governance procedures and protocols as well as the implementation of risk management frameworks. Sandra provides specialist secretarial support for main boards and a range of committees designed to cover a number of complex scenarios. She is also experienced in the use of web based documentation and governance systems.

Sandra is an Associate of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) and has a Degree in Mathematics with Theoretical Physics.

Sally Pococke

Sally provides secretariat and project management support and has over thirty years’ experience working across a range of areas, including the provision of strategic advice, operations advice regarding the interaction between payroll and administration, and a variety of communications projects. She has managed a wide portfolio of clients, covering a diverse range of industries.

She has a background in HR as well as pensions, having been part of the Sedgwick Noble Lowndes HR team for several years. Her background in implementation and change management means her experience also encompasses wider HR issues, such as incorporating the effect on employees of combining the cultural as well as the business objectives of any benefit changes.

Sally has been a speaker at industry conferences and is an Associate of the Pensions Management Institute.

Ruth Pearse

Ruth is a Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute and has over 25 years’ experience in the UK pensions industry. Initially a pension administrator, she worked with a wide range of large final salary schemes. She also spent over 4 years with the Pensions Regulator where, as a technical specialist, she was involved in a variety of governance projects including complex case-work in the pensions and administration governance department and corporate risk management department.

Ruth has subsequently specialised in acting as a scheme secretary to Trustee Boards, having been responsible for drafting up to date scheme governance documentation, liaising with scheme advisers and drafting newsletters and communications to members. Her extensive knowledge of governance issues, Pensions Regulator background and scheme secretary experience makes her a valuable addition to a Trustee Board team, helping with the efficient operation of trustee scheme management.

Roger Cooper

Roger is Head of Trusteeship at Pi Trustees and has over thirty five years’ experience in the benefits industry, initially at large consultancies such as Towers Perrin (now Towers Watson) and Mercer. He has also undertaken a number of lengthy interim pension manager assignments.

Roger now acts as independent Chair to a number of Trustee Boards and also provides additional support on an interim basis where Trustee Boards are facing particular challenges. His expertise includes helping address conflicts of interest, dealing with the impact of mergers and acquisitions and managing complex valuations.

His keen commercial awareness enables him to deliver a pragmatic, proportionate and disciplined approach to all his professional, independent trustee appointments.

Roger is a Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) and is on the committee of the PMI Trustee Group and a regular speaker at PMI seminars.