LGPS Private Markets Forum

Jill recently joined Redington as Head of LGPS to support them with understanding the LGPS landscape and to develop closer relationships with funds and key stakeholders.

Jill worked as AD, Investments at the West Midlands Pension Fund, initially covering the broad spectrum of finance and investments for the Fund including investment strategy before moving to focus on responsible investment and investment partnerships.

Previously, working as Head of Financial Services at LB Hackney for 12 years managing all aspects of the Pension Fund and other financial services. She worked closely with others on setting up the investment pooling company, London CIV, before moving to the company as Head of Client Relations.

Previously, Jill worked for over 20 years as a fund manager concentrating mainly on equities but also being involved in strategic asset allocation and derivatives.

Collaborating with the Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Nadeem actively contributes to establishing a robust decision-making framework for allocating assets to the infrastructure portfolio. Acknowledged as a leader and expert in his designated asset classes, he also considers Responsible Investment & Engagement (RI&E) policies, aligning them with Partner Fund policies and investment decisions. Nadeem’s proactive approach ensures a commitment to responsible investment practices throughout the decision-making process.

Trevor Castledine is Chief Client and Advisory Officer at LGPS Central Limited. He has extensive LGPS and broader investment management experience and has worked as an investment consultant recognised as a leading expert in private market investment. A Chartered Accountant and former Investment Banker, Trevor has been a member of the LGPS community since working as Deputy CIO at Lancashire County Pension Fund (LCPF) and then Deputy CIO and Investment Director for Private Credit at LGPS pooling entity LPPI. Before joining LGPS Central, Trevor served as an Independent Adviser to the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority.

Alongside his role at LGPS Central, Trevor acts as an NED on the board of a regional direct lending fund manager based in the Northeast of England.

Ian Connatty is the first Managing Partner for BBB Patient Capital Advisory Services, leading its regulated investment advisory and fundraising activities. As Managing Partner, Ian will also serve on the BBB Patient Capital Advisory Services Board, contributing to the Partnership’s governance and strategic oversight. He was previously the British Business Bank’s Deputy Chief Investment Officer. He brings with him a wealth of experience in direct, co-investment and venture capital fund investing having worked for British Business Bank and its forerunner organisations since 2009. Ian joined British Patient Capital when it launched in 2018 where he was Managing Director of the Funds business until 2021. After this he was appointed Managing Director, Direct and Co-investment, where he established the £425m Future Fund: Breakthrough programme. He previously worked in corporate finance at technology company Infinity SDC and in financial modelling at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Anna leads the investment team that invests and manages Better Society Capital’s portfolio with Jeremy Rogers. She is a member of the Investment Committee and Executive Committee.

She joined Better Society Capital in 2012. Over the past ten years, she has helped shape BSC’s strategy and make investments which have grown the UK social impact investment market ten-fold to almost £8bn. Within this, she led on developing a number of segments of this market including social property funds, blended finance, place-based investment and community finance.

Prior to joining, Anna had over ten years of experience in investment and strategy, working in Merrill Lynch’s Financial Institutions Group. She was a Board member of Charity Bank between 2014 and 2022 and is now a member of Access’ Blended Finance Investment Committee and the Local Access Blended Investment Committee.

Mr. Wakefield is a Product Strategist in PIMCO’s London office, focusing on Private European Commercial Real Estate and Alternatives Credit Strategies. He as previously worked in PIMCO’s Newport Beach office covering Alternatives Credit and Public Equity strategies. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2022, he was an Associate at Westmount Asset Management. He has five years of investment experience and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Occidental College. Mr. Wakefield is a CFA Charterholder.

Karen has worked in the finance sector for over 30 years. She provides independent investment advice to the London Boroughs of Islington, Camden, and Hounslow pension funds.

In 2017, she set up Pensions for Purpose, a collaborative information-sharing and training platform which aims to raise awareness of responsible, sustainable, and impact investment amongst pension funds.

She is non-executive Chair of Resonance Ltd, an impact manager investing in real estate social impact opportunities, and chair of the Strategic Investment Board for the Ministry of Justice.

Philip has worked in Local Government Finance since 1987 and has been involved in various roles for the Clwyd Pension Fund since 1996.  During this time he has worked with an in house team and external advisors who have recommended and implemented changes to the Clwyd Fund’s governance, funding, investment and administration strategies. Over the 27 years the value of the Fund has increased from £300m to over £2.3bn and the investment strategy and approach to managing investment risk has significantly changed.  Recreationally, Phil can be found supporting Everton and Chester FC or making investments at various racecourses.    

Mr. Wakefield is a Product Strategist in PIMCO’s London office, focusing on Private European Commercial Real Estate and Alternatives Credit Strategies. He as previously worked in PIMCO’s Newport Beach office covering Alternatives Credit and Public Equity strategies. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2022, he was an Associate at Westmount Asset Management. He has five years of investment experience and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Occidental College. Mr. Wakefield is a CFA Charterholder.

Senior infrastructure, real assets and private markets investment professional with advisory and principal investing experience.

International private equity professional with >15 years of experience including directs, co-investments, secondaries and funds.

Mike is responsible for business development activities with a focus on capital formation for the firm’s global timberland strategy. He is also involved in new timberland product development and is a member of the Timberland Strategy Team. In addition, he manages investment portfolios and large institutional client relationships. Prior to joining the firm, Mike was a partner at Global Forest Partners, where he was directly involved in portfolio management, valuation analysis, and investment research. Previously, Mike was an equity research analyst at Merrill Lynch, where he covered the forest products industry. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Society Boston.

Education: B.S., Finance, Pennsylvania State University

Joined the company: 2017

Began career: 2005

Stephen is co-Managing Partner of Stafford’s Timberland team and is responsible for client services, investment sourcing and due diligence.

Stephen was previously the Forest Business Manager for Willmott Forests where he managed large afforestation and acquisition projects.  He was also a senior consultant at URS, specialising in plantation management, timberland appraisals and due diligence.

He holds a Bachelor degree in Forestry from the University of Melbourne.

Alex has worked for the Norfolk Pension Fund since 2004.  A chartered accountant by training, he qualified with Ernst & Young and gained client exposure to a diverse range of corporate pension schemes with the firm. 

He leads on Norfolk’s funding and investment activities and is an active participant in the work of the ACCESS Pool, which remains very much a collaborative effort between its member funds.

Surinder founded Arjun Infrastructure and was formerly the Head of Europe for J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Infrastructure Investment Group. At JPMAM Surinder was responsible globally for the existing portfolio of investments, including regulated utilities (gas, electricity, water and waste water), power generation (gas and wind) and transportation (airports and seaports) and new investment in Europe. He was a member of the Investment Committee and managed the London office, a team of 12 professionals. Before that, he was Chief Financial Officer and co-head of Scotia Gas Networks. Scotia Gas Networks was the £5 billion joint venture between Scottish and Southern Energy plc, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Borealis Infrastructure and operates the UK gas distribution network for Scotland and South England, serving 17.6 million customers with over 6,000 employees and contractors.

Previously, Surinder was Managing Director of American Electric Power’s (AEP) European operations. AEP’s European presence consisted of 4,400MW of power generation capacity in the UK, regulated electricity networks and commodity trading activities. He was previously a consultant in Arthur Andersen’s Energy & Utility practice focussed on transaction support for European energy and utility transactions. Surinder holds a Masters degree in Engineering, Economics & Management from St John’s College, University of Oxford and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

Sarah has over a decade of experience in the institutional and direct agriculture industry. Prior to Fiera Comox, Sarah held senior consulting roles at both Callan and Aon Hewitt. Most recently, Sarah was a Senior Vice President, Real Assets at Callan, a leading institutional investment consulting firm, where she was responsible for the firm’s farmland investment research. In this role, she also worked with clients on real assets strategic planning, investment research, and asset class education.

In addition to her institutional experience in farmland, Sarah has direct agriculture experience having managed a large dairy heifer growing operation for a dairy and cropping farm in Wisconsin.

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science, College of Agriculture with a concentration in Food Animal Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.