Hymans Robertson has appointed Susan Black into the new role of Head of GAP (Governance, Administration and Projects) within its LGPS team. Against a backdrop of structural and regulatory change and enhanced scrutiny from Scheme stakeholders, Susan will lead and develop the services offered by the leading pensions and financial services consultancy’s expert team of integrated Governance, Administration and Projects specialists to support LGPS its clients.

With nine years’ experience in the financial services industry, Susan joins from NatWest Group where she was a Senior Manager providing oversight of a variety of risk and governance committees, most recently focussing on data management and compliance across the Group. Prior to her career in Financial Services, Susan was a solicitor in private practice specialising in high value dispute resolution. Susan has an in-depth understanding of how to improve governance, risk and compliance across a variety of sectors and industries.

Commenting on her new role, Susan says:

“I am thrilled to join Hymans Robertson and to take on this new role at such a key time for the LGPS sector. With increasing regulatory complexity and scrutiny, the role of governance is becoming increasingly important. I’m really looking forward to supporting our clients to meet the challenges and opportunities posed by, for instance, the McCloud judgement, the SAB Good Governance Review and increased digitisation as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Commenting on what Susan brings to the role Catherine McFadyen, Head of Actuarial Public says:

“I am really pleased to welcome Susan to our skilled and professional team that serves the local government pensions sector. She will work closely with Ian Colvin and Kate Dickson, both of whom are well known to the LGPS. Susan brings a great deal of expertise to this role, and a fresh perspective at a time when LGPS Funds are continuing to respond to a number of regulatory changes and governance challenges. “