Robin Pearce, Operations Director at Cartwright, commented: “Ian joins us at a really exciting time for the organisation as we continue our expansion across the UK market and enhance our services in areas such as project management and risk transfer. The UK pensions landscape has never been so interesting, or so challenging, and Ian will help us to spread our message and expertise far and wide.
“Appointing expert individuals is critical to our high levels of client experience and satisfaction; Ian is no exception. He is extremely well known and connected in the pensions space, with a knowledge and expertise that is second to none. We are looking forward to him promoting our capabilities not only to the industry but across the regions.”
McKnight added: “Cartwright is a leader in the field with ambitious growth plans and a strong team who are continually looking at new and innovative ways to support their clients to reach their goals. They are unafraid to step outside the traditional comfort zones that bind many organisations in the industry and their ownership structure and full independence allows them to do so. I am looking forward to contributing to their ongoing success.”
Ian’s appointment is the latest in a string of high-level appointments for the firm which saw Yona Chesner join as Senior Investment Consultant and Head of Investments (North) last month, and the appointment of Barry Widdows as Senior Investment Consultant and Southwest lead in December 2023
Ian joins from Royal Mail Pensions Trustees where he was Chief Investment Officer. He managed Royal Mail Pension Plan's 2012 transfer of assets (£32.5bn) to the UK Government and went on to manage over c.£10 billion across 3 pension plans, investing c£400m per year over his 13-year tenure and leaving the Plan over £1bn in surplus. He is a sitting Trustee of the Rowland Hill Fund, a charity helping current and past postal workers in financial need. Over his extensive 25-year career he has also held positions at WTW, LCP, Morgan Stanley, and KPMG.
