Trustees

Andy Cheseldine joined the board in 2017. He's been named as one of the top 25 most influential investment consultants in the past five years – a testament to his reputation. Andy has over 35 years of experience in consulting on defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.

Before joining the Trustee Board in September 2019, Anna was a trustee of the Accenture Retirement Savings Plan (UK). She previously worked as a digital strategy consultant with Oliver Wyman specialising in the design, build and launch of digital banks and retail investment apps in East Asia. She currently works as a Senior Product Manager for a leading payments app.

Anna brings this technological expertise to the Board, along with her passion for great member communications and re-engaging scheme members. In 2019, she was recognised as Trustee of the Year at the Professional Pensions Rising Star Awards.

David joined the Smart Pension Master Trust Board in October 2018. He is a Fully Accredited Professional Pension Trustee with a range of Board appointments. David has over 35 years’ experience worldwide in the pension and investment industry, working as an operator and consultant. He has worked for two of the Big Four consulting firms and was the UK and ROI Pensions and Payroll Manager for Tesco.

David is a Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute and Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute. He is passionate about ESG and addressing the risks and opportunities arising from Climate Change. He holds the CFA Certificates in ESG Investing (2021) and Impact Investing (2024).

Nikesh Patel joined the board in 2021 and chairs our investment sub-committee. He has nearly two decades of experience in consulting trustees and employers on defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pension schemes on all investment matters, including as an award-winning Chief Investment Officer for his role in managing the assets for a number of pension funds in the UK. He has a keen interest in responsible investment, alongside a deep expertise in both public and private markets. He is an actuary by training and is also a trustee director of the Church of England Pensions Board.

Kim Gubler joined the Smart Pension Master Trust Board in May 2024. Kim has over 30 years’ experience in the pensions industry, including as a founding director of the Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA) and has been its Chair since 2019. She is a Fellow of both the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) and the Pensions Advisory Service and was an independent Trustee Director of the Crystal Master Trust. Kim sits on the Pension Dashboards Programme Advisory Group and DWP’s Default Consolidator Delivery Group and is the PMI’s Principal Examiner for Professionalism and Governance.