The London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) has appointed Matthew Hopson as its new director of finance and corporate resources.

Hopson will start his new role in April 2026 and joins LPFA from the London Borough of Islington where he spent over three years, firstly as deputy director of finance and in the last year as acting director of finance. Before this, he was the strategic investment manager at Westminster City Council where he managed the Tri-Borough pensions team. He started his career at the Royal Borough of Greenwich. LPFA CEO, Jo Donnelly, welcome Hopson and said the authority were “delighted” that he has joined. “He brings an excellent grounding in local government pensions as well as leadership in local government finance. His reputation as a strong supporter of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and a capable finance professional is well deserved,” she added.

LGPS Central has announced the appointment of Paddy Dowdall as investment director for local investment.

Dowdall has extensive LGPS experience, after spending almost 14 years at Merseyside Pension Fund, followed by a further 12 years at Greater Manchester Pension Fund. His career spans a wide range of investment and governance roles. Dowdall will join the pool in April and report to the head of private markets, Nadeem Hussain. In his new role, Dowdall will be responsible for leading the pool’s approach to local investment, working closely with partner funds and key stakeholders to deliver against evolving investment strategy requirements. The appointment comes as LGPS Central grows to represent 15 partner funds, with significant local investment already committed at both fund and pool level.

Barnett Waddingham has appointed Lucy Cresswell as head of pensions governance and secretariat.

Cresswell joined Barnett Waddingham in 2019 and brings 25 years’ experience of working with a variety of pension clients across the full spectrum of governance, executive and secretariat services, ranging from medium-sized schemes up to those with 100,000 members. She has expertise helping boards to operate more efficiently amid an ever-changing financial and regulatory environment, advising on a range of topics such as trustee effectiveness, the risk posed from cyber threats, and establishment of an effective set of policies and procedures. In her new role, Cresswell will help develop and deliver Barnett Waddingham’s governance consulting services to schemes at a time when The Pensions Regulator and the Department for Work and Pensions are focused on improving the standards of pension scheme trusteeship, governance and administration.

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