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Scottish Widows boosts investment drive with new appointments
Press release
26th September 2024
Scottish Widows has announced a series of senior appointments to its investment leadership team.
Matt Brennan, Heather Coulson, Mithesh Varsani and Mark Gillan will report to Kevin Doran, Chief Investment Officer for Scottish Widows, in their newly-created roles.
Matt Brennan
With a background ranging from hedge fund management at TCI to retail investment at AJ Bell, Matt joins in November as Head of Asset Allocation & Research, bringing a wealth of expertise in capital market assumptions and strategic asset allocation for multiple customer needs.
Heather Coulson
Heather will take on the role of Head of Implementation & Portfolio Management, having joined the business earlier in the year from Abrdn. Building upon Scottish Widows open-architecture approach, Heather will lead the work with investment partners to bring the best of British and Global asset managers to bear for customers. Heather will take up her new role in January 2025.
Mithesh Varsani
Mithesh will also join in January 2025 as Head of Investment Solutions. He joins from Mobius Life, where, as Chief Investment Officer, he specialised in creating bespoke investment solutions for institutional pension investors. Arriving with a breadth of knowledge in private markets and pension master trusts, Mithesh is a proven innovator in both the DB and DC marketplace.
Mark Gillan
With a deep knowledge of custody, trade, fund and platform technology, Mark joins as Head of Operations from Valu-Trac. As Head of Product Governance, he was responsible for oversight across a wide range of investment funds, run by third-party managers. In previous roles at both Winterflood and AJ Bell, he led product teams during periods of rapid growth and brings experience of large-scale technology deployment in complex environments. Mark will start his new role in January 2025.
Kevin Doran, Chief Investment Officer, Scottish Widows, said:
“The addition of Matt, Heather, Mithesh and Mark to our investment leadership team is a real coup for the business. Combined with our existing leaders, these appointments will help us bring our customers access to the best investment opportunities from across Britain and around the world.
"We are already trusted to look after more than £200 billion of our six million customers’ retirement savings, annuities and multi-asset portfolios. With our enhanced team, reach and scale, we'll use our expertise to guide our customers' investments and help them financially prepare for their family’s future.”
About Scottish Widows
Founded in 1815, Scottish Widows is part of Lloyds Banking Group, the UK’s largest digital bank and financial services group. With more than £210bn assets under administration and 6 million customers, Scottish Widows’ award‐winning product range includes workplace and individual pensions, annuities, life cover, critical illness, income protection as well as savings and investment products. Customers can access our products and services through independent financial advisers, directly, and through all Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland and Halifax branches.