Delivering Positive Outcomes to Pension Members (Sarah Smart)

This will be a physical meeting at Manchester Chamber of Commerce with a remote speaker.

After an overview by Ms Smart, specific topics will be covered in the form of answers to pre-arranged questions asked by our president. Finally, there will be a discussion open to all participants.

Sarah Smart was appointed chair of The Pensions Regulator in June 2021. Sarah is an experienced non-executive director and independent trustee. She is a qualified chartered accountant and has held a portfolio of non-executive and advisory positions. She was a member of the board, senior independent director and chair of the audit and risk assurance committee of TPR from 2016 to 2021. Sarah has spent over 20 years in the pensions industry in a variety of roles. She was chair of TPT Retirement Solutions from 2010 to 2018, has worked with both London Pensions Fund Authority and Lothian Pension Fund, was an independent member of the investment and funding committee for Unilever UK pension fund and chaired the Financial Times pensions governance committee. Beyond pensions Sarah has been closely involved in social investment, sitting on the boards of both Social Investment Scotland and Big Society Capital, where she was also chair of the audit committee. She also chaired the audit committee of UK Athletics. Prior to moving to a portfolio career, Sarah worked in the investment management industry. She spent nine years with Standard Life Investments and was latterly responsible for developing and managing liability-driven and absolute return investment solutions for institutional investors. Sarah is highly respected within the pensions industry and has won many accolades for her innovative approach to pensions.