Scottish Widows has announced the appointment of Oke Eleazu and Maria Herrero-Bullich to its Independence Governance Committee (IGC).

Eleazu, a customer service and digital transformation specialist, replaces Clare Goldie-Scot, who will step down in the coming months after five years. Eleazu started as an accountant with Legal & General and later managed Prudential’s defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) administration. Eleazu was also instrumental in establishing ManyPets, a general insurance provider with a digital-first focus, where he held senior executive positions. Meanwhile, Scottish Widows insurance, pensions and investments chief customer and digital officer, Herrero-Bullich, has been appointed to the IGC as a provider-nominated member, succeeding Emma Watkins, who stepped down at the beginning of March. In her current role since April this year, Maria has been responsible for Scottish Widows’ customer strategy to grow market share, improve customer outcomes and increase lifetime value. Herrero-Bullich has also held several leadership positions in the insurance industry, growing digital business across motor, home, life and business insurance. She previously worked at Aviva, where her roles spanned strategy, transformation and managing its digital businesses on price comparison websites and direct channels.

Aviva Investors has appointed Roland Derks as global high-yield portfolio manager alongside other internal appointments.

Derk’s appointment represents the latest addition to the firm’s fixed income team, following the recent additions of head of fixed income research, Gita Bal and co-head of high yield, Fabrice Pellous, earlier this year. In his new role, Derk will report directly to Pellous. He has over 15 years of investment industry experience, having held various portfolio management roles at Goldman Sachs over the last decade, including convertibles portfolio manager and high yield portfolio manager. He also held analyst roles at Nomura and Deutsche Bank earlier in his career. This appointment comes alongside two new internal appointments as sector leads within the fixed income research team. In the newly created roles, Carmen Altenkirch will become the lead for sovereigns and emerging market corporates, whilst Martin McCudden will be the lead for consumer and technology, media and communications.

Dalriada Trustees has appointed Ryan Hubley as sales and business development lead.

Hubley joins from the Independent Governance Group (IGG), where he has worked since 2021, most recently as business development manager. Before joining the IGG, Hubley worked in business and client development for a range of firms in the legal sector, including K&L Gates, Dentons and Reed Smith. Dalriada Trustees managing director, Shehzad Ahmad, said: “Ryan’s appointment marks a valuable addition to our team’s expertise at Dalriada. His deep understanding of the pensions landscape and his proven track record in business development within a professional trustee firm will make him a real asset to our team. I look forward to working with Ryan as we strengthen our presence in the market and ensure Dalriada’s services continue to meet the evolving needs of our clients.”

The defined contribution investment forum (DCIF) has announced a new chair and vice chair.

The not-for-profit research group has welcomed Dave Whitehair as its new chair and Lindsay Nickerson as vice chair. Its previous chair, Mark Austin, will now become the immediate past chair of the group and remain on the board until the end of 2025. Whitehair is the director of institutional at Lombard Odier Investment Managers and has been a long-standing voice around the DCIF’s table. He previously served as chair of NextGen and spent over a decade at Fidelity before taking on senior business development roles at Franklin Templeton, Janus Henderson, and then Lombard Odier in recent months. Meanwhile, the DCIF said Nickerson would bring a "consultant’s perspective" into asset management. She joined Nordea Asset Management a year and a half ago, having spent a decade at Aon, latterly as an associate partner.

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