Standard Life has appointed Emma Furlonger as managing director of workplace and retail intermediary businesses.

Furlonger has led the businesses on an interim basis since April 2026, following Gail Izat’s appointment as chief operating officer for Standard Life's Pensions and Savings business. Furlonger has nearly 30 years of experience in the pensions and long-term savings industry. She joined Standard Life in 2021 as head of defined contribution (DC) workplace distribution before becoming workplace trading director in 2025. Before joining Standard Life, she held senior roles at Legal & General, Aviva, Friends Life and Friends Provident.

Aptia has appointed Russell Laver as head of pension risk transfer.

Laver joins Aptia with more than 20 years of experience advising corporates and trustees on strategic pension matters. Before joining Aptia, he was a partner at EY. His career has also included senior leadership positions at Mercer and JLT. Throughout his career, he has developed expertise across pension scheme governance, accounting disclosures, scheme closures, endgame planning and risk transfer projects, supporting organisations ranging from smaller pension arrangements to schemes with thousands of members. He is also a qualified actuary.

Cartwright Pension Trusts has appointed Andrew Hunter as project management specialist.

He joins Cartwright with 14 years of experience within the UK pensions industry, including five years specialising in buy-in and buyout transactions. Throughout his career, he has gained extensive experience delivering projects, developing stakeholder relationships and supporting clients through pension-related change. In his new role, Hunter will work closely with teams across the business, as well as trustees, advisers and providers, to support the delivery of pension projects and strategic initiatives.

Dan Thomas has officially stepped into his role as Isio CEO.  

Thomas joins Isio as the business enters its next phase of growth and will lead the development of Isio’s next long-term growth strategy, with a focus on strengthening the firm’s existing market positions while accelerating growth across adjacent areas. He has more than two decades of leadership experience spanning professional services, consulting, outsourcing, and growth transformation. His career has included senior leadership roles at KPMG, Dell, Huntswood and the Management Consulting Group.

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