The Pensions Regulator announces three new appointments to its Board
Ref: PN26-13
Three new appointments have been made by the Department for Work and Pensions to the Board of The Pensions Regulator (TPR).
Minister for Pensions Torsten Bell has appointed TPR’s Executive Director, Market Oversight, Ben Gunnee to the Board, alongside new Non-Executive Directors Tracey McDermott and Chris Hitchen.
They join the Board at a pivotal time with the Pension Schemes Act 2026 set to significantly reshape the market with a focus on scale, value and good outcomes for members, while the Pensions Commission has recently published its interim report setting out the key challenges facing the system, ahead of its final recommendations in 2027. Following consultation, TPR plans to publish a refreshed five-year strategy next month setting out the principles and outcomes that will drive its work in this rapidly evolving landscape.
TPR’s interim Chair Kirstin Baker said: “I am delighted to welcome Ben, Chris and Tracey to the TPR Board. They bring strong leadership experience and deep pensions, regulatory and financial services expertise that will complement existing Board skills and support our new Chair Emma Douglas when she joins next month.”
Ben Gunnee, Executive Director, Market Oversight, said: “People expect a secure, sustainable income in retirement. At this vital moment for pensions, I welcome the opportunity to help deliver essential reforms and shape a system that drives strong outcomes for members.
“My focus will be on ensuring market participants have the highest standards of governance, employing a forward-looking and proactive supervisory model to stop harms before they arise.”
Tracey McDermott, Non-Executive Director, said: “I look forward to joining TPR at this important time in pensions, and to using my financial services and regulatory experience to help TPR deliver on its core mission and priorities.”
Chris Hitchen, Non-Executive Director, said: “My longstanding experience representing the pensions industry and working across large, complex schemes, has forged my commitment to better long-term outcomes for pension scheme members, their employers and for the UK as a whole. I look forward to working with the Board and industry colleagues to deliver strong, flexible governance and high standards across the sector.”
Notes to editors
Biographies
- Ben joined TPR in February as interim Executive Director, Market Oversight, before being made permanent following a recruitment exercise. Ben has held senior leadership roles at Mercer, Cambridge Associates and Gresham House, where he led international expansion initiatives, delivered significant assets under management growth, and launched new services, products and fiduciary solutions. He brings a combination of strategic insight, product expertise, and has extensive experience working closely with investment teams, trustee boards and other stakeholders to help deliver on their objectives. As well as being a qualified actuary Ben has previously worked in pensions regulation for the Pensions Investment Authority (now the Financial Conduct Authority) on the Personal Pension review.
- Tracey has had a distinguished career spanning the public and private sector. She is a lawyer by background and spent 15 years at the UK Financial Services Authority/Financial Conduct Authority culminating as acting Chief Executive Officer and with previous notable positions having included Director of Enforcement and Financial Crime and Director of Supervision and Authorisations. From 2017 to 2024 she was a member of the Global Management Team of Standard Chartered Bank and their Chief Compliance Officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer. Following retirement from Standard Chartered she now holds a number of advisory and non-executive roles.
- Chris has well over 30 years' experience in investment and pensions, most recently as Chair of Border to Coast, the £100 billion pooling company for the Local Government Pension Scheme and as a Board member and Investment Committee Chair at Nest, the pension fund with 13 million members (both of which he helped set up from scratch). He was a long-time CEO at Railpen, the £30 billion pension arrangements for the UK rail industry and was the elected chair of Pensions UK during the Global Financial Crisis 2007-09. He has also been a Board member for the Toronto-based International Centre for Pensions Management (ICPM), and for the UK’s Investor Forum, which promotes strategic dialogue between companies and investors. Chris is Chair of the £20 billion Nuclear Liabilities Fund, tasked with a hundred-year mission to fund the decommissioning of the UK's nuclear power stations, and sits on the board of the Scott Trust Endowment, which backs the Guardian newspaper. He is an actuary and an Honorary Fellow of the CFA Society of the UK.
The Pensions Regulator is the regulator of work-based pension schemes in the UK. Its mission is to protect savers’ money, help to enhance the pensions system, and support innovation in the interests of savers. Its statutory objectives are to:
- protect members’ benefits
- reduce the risk of calls on the Pension Protection Fund
- promote, and improve understanding of, the good administration of work-based pension schemes
- maximise employer compliance with automatic enrolment duties
- minimise any adverse impact on the sustainable growth of an employer (in relation to the exercise of the regulator’s functions under Part 3 of the Pensions Act 2004 only)
Press contacts
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- pressoffice@tpr.gov.uk
- 01273 648496
