Smart Pension has appointed former Pensions Minister, Guy Opperman, as a senior adviser.

Opperman served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) between 2017 and 2022, focusing primarily on pensions and financial inclusion. He also worked as Minister of State for Employment in the DWP between 2022 and 2023, and more recently as Minister for Roads and Local Transport in the Department for Transport from 2023-24. Prior to this, he spent two decades as a practising barrister, later joining the government as MP for Hexham, followed by roles in the Home Office, and as a Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury.

People’s Partnership, provider of The People’s Pension, has appointed Phil Butler as its deputy chief investment officer.

Butler joins the provider from M&G, where he was a multi-asset portfolio manager in the treasury and investment office. In his new role, he will be overseeing the investment operations and responsible investing teams at People’s Partnership at its City of London office. Commenting on his appointment, Butler said: “I’m delighted to be joining this fantastic organisation. The People’s Pension is one of the fastest growing asset owners in the UK and I have been impressed by their ambition and business outlook.”

Mercer has appointed Deborah Frost as chair of trustees of the Mercer Master Trust, effective from April 2025.

Frost has experience in board director, non-executive, and executive positions in the financial sector and technology space, including as group CEO of Personal Group Holdings plc. She succeeds Alan Pickering and will take up the role when his term concludes in April 2025, although she will officially assume the role of a trustee from January. She joins alongside Vidett Trustee Services trustee Aimée Denham and Independent Governance Group trustee, Nicole Mullock, who were appointed trustees of the Mercer Master Trust in 2024.

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