Universities UK and the University and College Union have announced the appointment of Joanne Segars OBE as the independent Chair for the Joint Expert Panel (JEP) which will examine the valuation of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).

Joanne is a widely respected figure in the pensions community. She is currently the Chair of LGPS Central Ltd, which pools the investments of nine large Midlands-based local authority pension funds. Prior to this, she worked for many years in senior positions in the pensions sector, including as Chief Executive of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) for over 10 years and as Head of Pensions at the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Joanne is a current board member of NOW: Pensions, and the Environment Agency.

The JEP is tasked with agreeing key principles to underpin the future approach of the University and College Union (UCU) and Universities UK (UUK) to the USS valuation. As outlined in the panel’s terms of reference, a report from the JEP is expected in September 2018.

The University and College Union (UCU) has announced that its three nominees to the USS joint expert panel are Saul Jacka, a Turing fellow and professor of statistics at the University of Warwick; Deborah Mabbett, a professor of public policy at Birkbeck, University of London; and Catherine Donnelly, an associate professor at Heriot-Watt University, where she leads the risk insight lab focusing on pensions, investment and insurance research.

Universities UK has announced that its three nominees to the USS joint expert panel are Ronnie Bowie, Partner at Hymans Robertson and inaugural President of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries; Sally Bridgeland, former CEO of BP Pension Trustees Limited and consultant at Aon Hewitt; and Chris Curry, Director of the Pensions Policy Institute.