Private Markets Profile – DC Forum

Helyne supports clients with reviewing the suitability of default and self-select arrangements for DC pension schemes.  On a day-to-day basis, this includes investment strategy reviews, monitoring of fund performance, advice on making changes and advice for selecting new funds or default strategies. For many clients, alongside her specialist asset transition colleagues, Helyne also provides support and oversight with transitioning assets between funds and providers.

James is a Business Development Director at Schroders with over 16 years’ experience in the pensions and investment across DC and DB. Before joining Schroders in 2022, he was a senior investment consultant at KPMG and River and Mercantile, with a focus on investment strategy design and risk management. James is a qualified actuary and holds a masters degree in Mathematics from the University of Oxford.

Callum is a DC Investment Partner at XPS with nearly 18 years’ experience in investment consulting and driving defined contribution strategy and proposition. A qualified actuary, he is well known for his focus on improving member outcomes, sustainable investing, and the effective use of private assets. He pioneered the ‘10‑10‑10’ rule for illiquid investments and has played a key role in evolving major DC investment propositions, including at Standard Life. At XPS, Callum leads strategic growth within the DC investment business.

Jake Van Koevering is an Executive Director and Partner with the Morgan Stanley Private Equity Solutions team. Prior to joining the firm, Jake was an investment professional at Audax Group. Jake received a B.S. in economics with concentration in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Martin is responsible for the L&G’s Private Market Access fund – a semi-liquid global private market fund designed for UK pension investors – as well as a range of DC-focused diversified growth funds. He is a member of L&G Asset Management’s Multi-Asset Funds team. As an asset allocator and fund manager, he has over 15 years of experience with alternative asset classes and the management of fund-of-funds. Prior to joining L&G in September 2012, Martin was a senior investment consultant at Towers Watson where he was a member of its Global Investment Committee and UK Portfolio Construction Group. At TW, his responsibilities included asset class and manager research on liquid and illiquid alternatives. Martin previously worked as a manager at Ernst & Young in its Financial Services Risk Management. He has a PhD (summa cum laude) in economics and finance from the University of St Gallen, graduated from the doctoral programme of the Swiss National Bank at Gerzensee and was a visiting PhD student in economics at UC Berkeley. 

Joanne is Head of Manager Selection at Future Growth Capital, responsible for external manager investments and leading the manager selection team. Joanne’s background is in principal investing, with experience across public and private markets gained at the Wellcome Trust, a leading global endowment.

Joanne has previously served in a range of non-executive roles, including Trustee Director of the Wellcome Trust Pension plan and Trustee and Chair of the Investment Committee of the Varrier-Jones Foundation. Joanne chairs the Investment Advisory Committee at Hertford College, University of Oxford and is a member of the City Guild of Investment Managers. Joanne holds a PhD in life sciences from University College London and a Masters of Biochemistry from the University of Oxford. She is a CFA charter holder and holds the Private Markets and Alternative Investments Certificate from the CFA Institute.

David Merton CFA, is Head of Portfolio Management in the Fulcrum Alternative Solutions team and leads Private Equity research. Prior to joining Fulcrum, David gained a wealth of experience in private markets and hybrid-liquidity investing. He worked at Time Partners, responsible for Private Equity manager research on behalf of family offices. Before that, David was Assistant Portfolio Manager of the Towers Watson Partners Fund, starting at Oxford Investment Partners, which was later bought by Willis Towers Watson. David began his career in 2009 at Fidelity International as an Associate. David holds a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Surrey and has been a CFA charterholder since 2016.

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.

Martyn James is the Director of Investment for now:pensions, the UK master trust provider.

Martyn is responsible for leading the investment strategy for the business, with a focus on improving returns and retirement outcomes for its members whilst ensuring the portfolio has a real-world impact on creating a sustainable future for its members.  He is an advocate of making sure the scheme assets are stewarded in a way to help progress the transition to net-zero by 2050.

Martyn joined now:pensions in April 2024.  Prior to joining now:pensions, Martyn spent 22 years at Mercer, most recently as a Partner within Mercer’s UK DC business, but also with a recent two and a half year secondment leading Mercer’s Wealth (Pensions and Investments) business in Latin America.

Steven Grahame brings over 25 years of experience in institutional investment management, with a particular focus on alternative investments and real assets. He has extensive expertise across both private and public markets, combining hands-on investment management with strategic advisory experience.

Steven founded and led his own real estate fund management firm, investing across a broad range of sectors and geographies. Earlier in his career, he worked as a Senior Consultant advising institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds on real assets, helping shape portfolio strategy and execute complex transactions.

He has a demonstrable and auditable investment track record, alongside significant experience in advising on the acquisition, management, and disposal of large-scale commercial and residential portfolios.

Steven began his career at Knight Frank as a portfolio manager and research analyst, before moving into investment banking roles at ABN AMRO and UBS, where he managed multi-asset portfolios.

He holds a Master’s degree (MSc) from the London School of Economics.

Guy Glover, MRICS, is the Fund Director for the CT UK Commercial Property Fund and CT UK Housing Strategy. Guy has over 30 years’ experience in the property market, with a focus on investment, creation of fund solutions and development. Guy is a Chartered Surveyor and holds a Bachelors Degree in Land Management and a Postgraduate Diploma in Property Investment. Guy is an active member of the profession and sits on the AREF Management Committee.

Niall is Head of Investment Strategy in the Investment Proposition team at Aegon UK and is responsible for building a strategy and development roadmap, and implementation of investment solutions to drive growth in Aegon’s Workplace and Adviser channels to deliver the best possible investment outcomes for Aegon’s customers.  Niall has been with Aegon for 4 years having spent 16 years with Royal London in a variety of pension and investment roles ending his time there as a senior investment actuary. 

Rahil Ram is Head of Investment Strategy at Cushon. He joined from Fulcrum Asset Management, where he was Head of Climate Investing and served as a director in the absolute return investment team, responsible for idea generation, portfolio construction, portfolio management and risk management. Prior to that, he was a multi-asset strategist at Legal & General Asset Management, where he worked across strategic asset allocation, tactical asset allocation, portfolio design and quantitative analysis. Rahil is a qualified actuary and holds a master’s degree with distinction and a first-class undergraduate degree from Bayes Business School.

I am a Professional Trustee based in LawDeb’s London office. 

I joined LawDeb from PwC, where I was Head of Fiduciary and OCIO Research within the investment team, responsible for pension-scheme related investment advice and support to corporate clients and UK DB pension schemes. As well as this, I have over 14 years of actuarial experience, having previously supported and advised Trustees in my time at Cardano Risk Management and Aon.