LGPS Central announces new Chief Investment Officer

LGPS Central is pleased to confirm the appointment of Jayne Atkinson as their new Chief Investment Officer (CIO), who will be joining in Spring 2025. The appointment marks a significant step in LGPS Central’s continued commitment to driving forward its investment strategy and delivering exceptional value to its Partner Funds.

Jayne is an experienced investment professional and qualified actuary with over 20 years of expertise across various investment disciplines. The first decade of her career, as a qualified actuary, focused on pensions and investment advisory roles, serving as lead investment consultant to FTSE 100 companies and trustee boards. Subsequent years saw a transition into Chief Investment Officer (CIO) roles, where she became a key leader and board member for cross-border pooled funds, with roles at Unilever and Nestlé.

Jayne currently heads up the investment side of the Unilever UK Pension Fund, looking after both the direct investments and advisory areas of the business, large scale, international cross fund collaboration projects and ensuring robust governance across all areas.

In addition, Jayne also brings experience in non-executive roles, including positions such as an independent investment committee member for the Medical Research Council Pension Fund and chair of the European Pension Fund Investment Forum. She has also served as an external investment committee member for the CERN Pension Fund in Geneva and an International Advisory Board member for EDHEC Risk Institute, in Nice, France.

As CIO, Jayne oversees the investment strategy for several pension funds, including those in the UK, US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa, and Brazil, collectively managing around £20 billion in assets. She has chaired investment committees for US and Canadian defined benefit schemes.

Richard Law-Deeks, CEO at LGPS Central, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Jayne Atkinson as our new Chief Investment Officer. Her impressive skillset will be pivotal in guiding the next chapter of our investment strategy and delivering strong returns for our Partner Funds. Jayne joins us at a crucial time as we continue to refine our offering and with deep rooted experience from a fund perspective was the ideal choice to support LGPS Central in building upon the progress of the past six years.”

Jayne will oversee LGPS Central’s diverse investment strategies, which manage over £32.5 billion of assets on behalf of its Partner Funds, working closely with the executive team to ensure that LGPS Central continues to provide innovative and sustainable investment solutions.

The appointment follows a comprehensive recruitment process, and will work alongside the current leadership team, including Mark Davies and Nadeem Hussain, who continue to provide robust leadership of the Public and Private Markets teams respectively – and are acting as interim co-CIOs until Jayne joins in April.

Jayne’s extensive experience in driving best value and a track record of delivering outstanding performance for pension funds will be instrumental as LGPS Central continues to grow and strengthen its investment offering.