Four firms gain appointments at Dalriada, Cleveland & Co

The week ending August 21, 2026, saw a wave of senior appointments across the financial services sector, with new leadership roles created to address growing demand for specialized expertise in pensions, legal counsel, and digital infrastructure.

Expanding non-executive trustee services

Mandy Kaur-Sadler has been appointed head of non-executive trusteeship at Dalriada Trustees. Dalriada described the newly created role as designed to provide strategic focus and leadership to the firm’s growing non-executive trustee and co-trustee services. Kaur-Sadler joined the firm in January and is now responsible for maintaining consistency across the firm’s portfolio of roles and services, as well as exploring areas where the company can add value to trustees and scheme sponsors.

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The position includes oversight of appointments, with a focus on ensuring consistency, quality, and the effective discharge of trustee responsibilities. Mandy will support the development of robust frameworks for decision-making, conflicts management, delegation, and risk, while promoting continuous improvement and sharing best practice across the firm. Charles Ward, managing director at Dalriada Trustees, said the appointment reflected the increasing importance of non-executive trusteeship services and the value they bring to clients across the pensions industry. Ward added that as demand for professional and independent trusteeship continues to grow, Kaur-Sadler will play an important role in developing the firm’s proposition, supporting its people, and ensuring clients receive consistently high-quality support.

Legal and governance shifts

Louise Howard has left her position as chief legal officer at the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) after more than a decade to join specialist law firm Cleveland & Co. At Cleveland & Co, she will serve as general counsel for pension funds and institutional investors, advising on governance, regulatory strategy, and legal risk. Cleveland provides outsourced general counsel and legal services for the investment management industry.

Emma Cleveland, CEO and founder of Cleveland & Co, said the legal and governance environment for pension schemes continues to become more demanding. Cleveland noted that boards are expected to make increasingly complex decisions while responding to evolving regulation, investment challenges, and heightened stakeholder expectations. She highlighted that Howard combines exceptional technical expertise with first-hand institutional experience and a deep understanding of the challenges clients face every day.

Howard supported the USS team through significant developments including multiple long-running discussions about contribution rates and valuations.

DC team growth and actuarial expansion

Consultancy group Broadstone has appointed Steven Bell and Liam Hudson to its defined contribution (DC) team as senior consultants. Bell joins from Aon and has worked for a number of consultancy groups over the course of a 28-year career in the pensions industry. Hudson joins from Howden and has experience in responding to regulatory change and advising on various aspects of strategy. Damon Hopkins, head of DC workplace savings at Broadstone, said growing the firm’s DC proposition was a key strategic priority for the company.

Aptia has appointed John Herbert as actuary senior director as it continues to expand its service offering across administration and advisory services. Herbert joins from Equiniti, where he worked on complex benefits and remediation projects including guaranteed minimum pension equalisation exercises. He previously spent 17 years at Premier Pensions Management and Isio, where he set up the former’s actuarial practice. Herbert said the pensions industry continues to evolve rapidly, presenting both challenges and opportunities for schemes and sponsors. He looks forward to working with clients and colleagues to help deliver practical, high-quality actuarial advice and support schemes as they progress towards their long-term objectives.

Digital leadership at Standard Life

Wendy Redshaw has been appointed as Standard Life’s first-ever group chief digital and technology officer, responsible for the financial services giant’s technology, digital, data, security, and artificial intelligence capabilities. She joins from NatWest, where she was the banking group’s chief digital information officer for its retail business. In her new role, Standard Life said Redshaw would lead its enterprise technology function to develop new and existing services for clients.

Standard Life CEO Andy Briggs said: “Technology, data and AI are increasingly important in helping us support customers throughout their journey to and through retirement. Wendy’s experience in leading large-scale digital transformation programmes will help us build on the strong foundations we’ve put in place and continue improving the ways we serve customers and deliver better outcomes.”