Intellica has appointed Richard James as product lead.

Joining from GovTech Champion, Civica, James has 18 years of experience in driving the development and management of pensions software. In his new role, he is expected to play a "pivotal" role in defining and executing the product strategy at Intellica, ensuring the delivery of impactful solutions for the pensions industry. As product lead, James will be responsible for overseeing the entire product lifecycle, from initial concept through to successful delivery, while focusing on creating innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of pension providers and their customers. Commenting on the appointment, Intellica CEO, Brendan Doherty, said: “Richard’s passion for innovation and disciplined approach to product management will help us navigate the ever-evolving landscape of pensions, and technological advancements. His leadership will be key to ensuring we continue to deliver high-quality products that not only meet industry standards and market needs, but also create real value for clients.”

BESTrustees has appointed Sanjay Gupta, marking its fifth professional trustee recruit in the past three months – and the first of 2025.

Gupta joins the company after a 35-year career as a consulting actuary, the last 25 of those as a senior director at WTW, where he held several scheme actuary appointments on pension schemes ranging from assets of £100m to over £1bn. His professional experience covers both defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) schemes, advising both trustees and employers, which gives him an appreciation of regulatory and corporate points of view. His key specialisms are scheme funding and preparing schemes for risk transfers, where he has significant experience.

Invesco Real Estate has been appointed by Legal & General’s Private Markets Access Fund to provide real estate exposure in the US and Asia.

The partnership follows the launch of L&G’s Private Markets Access Fund in July, which was launched to provide the benefits of private markets exposure to its 5.3 million DC members. Pension scheme members invested in L&G’s Fund are expected to benefit from Invesco’s direct property exposure spanning the US and Asia Pacific developed markets. Investors are also set to benefit from Invesco Real Estate’s active approach to sustainable investing, which aims to reduce risk and enhance performance by providing better buildings.

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