Joanne Fairbairn

Joanne is an experienced pension professional, with 30 years in the pension industry.

She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge gained from consultancy, having worked at Mercer as Actuary and Consultant for 14 years, then directly within pension scheme management. Her in-house roles – as Group International and UK Pension Manager for Tesco and Head of Pensions for Marks and Spencer – provided significant experience of large DB schemes (over £10 billion) and fast-growing DC pension schemes. During this time she has led the successful delivery of large projects, scheme communications, and scheme change initiatives and believes that good governance is the main building block to successful scheme and member outcomes.

As an actuary, Joanne has strong technical knowledge and depth of experience; whilst from her corporate pension roles, she brings an understanding and empathy with how pension liabilities, risks, and funding requirements impact the sponsor. This varied experience, combined with an excellent track record of successful project delivery, makes Joanne well-placed to work alongside trustees as they navigate their chosen path.

Joanne’s specialisms include strategic planning for pension schemes, change management (including DB Scheme closure), benefit design and modification, DB scheme funding, wider aspects of pension operations (e.g. payroll, systems, administration projects, member communication strategies and pension taxation for high net worth individuals.

Joanne is a Fellow of the Institute & Faculty of Actuaries, an accredited Member of the Association of Professional Pension Trustees (APPT) and a DC Policy Committee member for the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association.