Key Takeaways
- • Buck has appointed five professionals across its UK retirement and consulting divisions, including Brian Fray, Sarah Brown, Carl Hitchman, Mark Alexander and Roberta Burns, as it expands in the UK market.
- • The hires come from Mercer, XPS Pensions Group, Willis Towers Watson and Mercer, adding defined benefit, GMP equalisation, investment consulting and actuarial expertise.
- • Buck entered the UK market at the start of 2019 and regained independence as a brand the previous year, as part of an ambitious 2019 expansion programme.
- • The appointments respond to heightened demand for specialist pensions consultants as many UK schemes, though often in surplus, have yet to confirm long-term targets amid market uncertainty.
Summary
Consulting, technology and administration services firm Buck has appointed five professionals to its retirement and consulting divisions as it looks to expand in the UK, according to Consultancy.uk. The appointments add to a London office build-out that follows Buck's launch into the UK market at the start of 2019, when the pension and benefits services provider began offering consulting, administration and technology solutions to businesses and pension scheme trustees. The firm only regained independence as a brand in 2018.
The pensions landscape is changing rapidly, the article notes. While many schemes currently have a surplus, the majority have yet to confirm long-term targets amid considerable uncertainty in the UK, a dynamic that has increased demand for consultants and prompted firms to recruit specialist talent.
Brian Fray joins Buck's modelling team from Mercer, where he led the design, development and delivery of technical client-facing solutions in the defined benefit pensions market. As a Senior Consultant, he will support the evolution of Buck's risk management software, Stride, and its GMP equalisation solution, Square. Sarah Brown becomes a Principal and Senior Consulting Actuary, having previously worked at XPS Pensions Group; she will develop solutions for scheme-facing issues around the annual and lifetime allowances and support Buck's response to shifts in scheme funding regulation. Carl Hitchman joins as a Principal and Senior Investment Consultant, bringing more than 34 years of actuarial and investment consulting experience, including investment advisory and fiduciary management.
Mark Alexander joins as a Principal and Senior Consultant Actuary from Willis Towers Watson and will take on the Senior Client Executive role for the Manchester office. Roberta Burns joins as a Senior Consulting Actuary from Mercer, where she was part of the senior operations team. She will be responsible for risk management governance and professionalism and will join Buck's GMP equalisation team to implement Square across its client base.
Vishal Makkar, Head of Retirement at Buck in the UK, said the appointments "strengthen key areas of Buck's offerings" and that the new hires' technical knowledge, combined with technology and innovative solutions, would help clients meet their commitments to scheme members for years to come.
The pensions landscape is changing rapidly, the article notes. While many schemes currently have a surplus, the majority have yet to confirm long-term targets amid considerable uncertainty in the UK, a dynamic that has increased demand for consultants and prompted firms to recruit specialist talent.
Brian Fray joins Buck's modelling team from Mercer, where he led the design, development and delivery of technical client-facing solutions in the defined benefit pensions market. As a Senior Consultant, he will support the evolution of Buck's risk management software, Stride, and its GMP equalisation solution, Square. Sarah Brown becomes a Principal and Senior Consulting Actuary, having previously worked at XPS Pensions Group; she will develop solutions for scheme-facing issues around the annual and lifetime allowances and support Buck's response to shifts in scheme funding regulation. Carl Hitchman joins as a Principal and Senior Investment Consultant, bringing more than 34 years of actuarial and investment consulting experience, including investment advisory and fiduciary management.
Mark Alexander joins as a Principal and Senior Consultant Actuary from Willis Towers Watson and will take on the Senior Client Executive role for the Manchester office. Roberta Burns joins as a Senior Consulting Actuary from Mercer, where she was part of the senior operations team. She will be responsible for risk management governance and professionalism and will join Buck's GMP equalisation team to implement Square across its client base.
Vishal Makkar, Head of Retirement at Buck in the UK, said the appointments "strengthen key areas of Buck's offerings" and that the new hires' technical knowledge, combined with technology and innovative solutions, would help clients meet their commitments to scheme members for years to come.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.