Expert directory

Chief Information Officer

Amit Thawani is Chief Information Officer for Insurance, Pensions & Investments at Lloyds Banking Group, where he leads technology strategy across insurance, pensions and investment platforms.

Prior to this, Amit held senior technology leadership roles across financial services and enterprise technology organisations, with experience in digital transformation, cloud, data and artificial intelligence.

Earlier in his career, he led technology and transformation programmes across complex organisations, focused on modernising systems and improving operational performance.

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General Counsel

Ana Jordan is General Counsel for Insurance, Pensions & Investments at Lloyds Banking Group, where she leads the legal function supporting the business.

Ana brings more than 20 years' experience in financial services. Before taking up her current role, she was General Counsel and Company Secretary at Embark Group and held senior legal roles across Lloyds Banking Group.

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CEO

Chira joined Lloyds Banking Group in May 2023 as CEO, Scottish Widows and CEO, Insurance, Pensions & Investments, helping over 10 million customers to plan for unexpected events in life, save for their futures and enjoy retirement.

Prior to joining the Group, Chira was Global Head of Strategy at HSBC. Chira has extensive experience in financial services, having worked as a partner at Mckinsey & Company and Managing Director at Sanford C. Bernstein.

Earlier in his career he held strategy, management and operational roles at Standard Chartered and Citigroup in India.

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Audit Director

Demi Agrotis is the Audit Director (SMF5) for Insurance, Pensions and Investments (IP&I) since January 2025. 

A qualified Chartered Accountant, she has over 25 years’ experience across practice and Internal Audit, with expertise in Finance, Treasury, Capital Markets and Risk. Demi has held senior roles at RBS/NatWest Markets, Barclays and MUFG.

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Managing Director, Lloyds Wealth

Donald MacKechnie is Managing Director of Lloyds Wealth at Lloyds Banking Group, where he leads the Group’s in-house financial advice business following its full acquisition in 2025.

Previously, Donald was Chief Operating Officer for Insurance, Pensions & Investments, where he was responsible for client service, operations and transformation programmes across the business. He has over 30 years’ experience in financial services, including leading large-scale change and improving operational performance.

Earlier in his career, he held senior roles at Deloitte, Prudential, the Financial Conduct Authority and EY, building experience across strategy, operations and financial services regulation.

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Managing Director, Pensions and Retirement

Graeme Bold is Managing Director for Pensions and Retirement at Scottish Widows, where he leads Workplace Savings, Longstanding, Intermediary Wealth and Retirement & Annuity businesses.

Prior to this, Graeme was Operations Director at M&G Prudential, where he oversaw operations and transformation across the business. He spent 20 years at Standard Life, holding senior roles including Strategy Director, Operations Director and Proposition Director.

He built experience across retail platforms and workplace pensions, developing expertise in strategy, operations and proposition development within financial services in his early career.

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Head of Portfolio Management and Implementation

Heather Coulson is Head of Portfolio Management and Implementation at Scottish Widows, responsible for policyholder funds and asset manager oversight.

Heather was previously Head of Global Asset Allocation at Aberdeen, leading multi-asset investment strategies. She has also held roles in fixed income credit analysis and equity analysis at SWIP and Baillie Gifford, building expertise in investment management.

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Intermediary Wealth Director

Jenny is the Intermediary Wealth Director for Scottish Widows. She joined Scottish Widows from Quilter, where she was Proposition Director, leading the Product & Proposition function and strategy for the Affluent segment of the business responsible for platform, investments, and advice.

She has over 30 years of experience in financial services. Prior to this, she worked at both Aberdeen and Standard Life, where she played a key role in developing their platform propositions, defining strategies for wealth technology and investment solutions, and managing strategic relationships.

Jenny also sits on the Board of UK Platform Association.

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Managing Director of Insurance

Jeremy Ward is Managing Director of Insurance at Lloyds Banking Group, where he leads the General Insurance and Protection business across the Group.

In addition to this role, he serves as Consumer Duty Lead for Insurance, Pensions & Investments and chairs the Customer & Product Committee, supporting governance and customer outcomes.

Prior to this, Jeremy held a range of senior leadership roles at Lloyds Banking Group, building experience across insurance, commercial performance and business delivery. He is a member of the Association of British Insurers and the General Insurance Council.

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Workplace Savings Director

Jerry Butcher is Workplace Savings Director at Scottish Widows within Lloyds Banking Group, where he leads the Workplace Savings business, supporting customers in preparing for retirement through employer-sponsored pension schemes.

Jerry has held senior roles at Scottish Widows, including responsibility for legacy products ahead of Consumer Duty implementation, as well as strategy, M&A, public policy and investments across accumulation and retirement.

He began his career as an Army officer before moving into investment banking, where he worked across markets and M&A advisory. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and brings experience across insurance, pensions and investments.

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Head of Workplace Strategic Relationships

Jill Henderson is Head of Workplace Strategic Relationships at Scottish Widows, where she leads engagement with employers, advisers and trustees.

Jill has worked at Scottish Widows for nearly three decades, most of this time spent in and around Workplace Pensions. She also sits on the advisory board of Her Wealth Network, helping to connect women to their finances and support career and skills development.

Jill has a passion for financial equity and chairs the Scottish Widows Women and Retirement Steerco which uses insight and data to drive change and close the pensions gap for women.

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Protection Director

Kate Lyons is Protection Director at Scottish Widows and CEO of Cavendish Online, where she leads protection strategy and distribution across the business.

Before joining Scottish Widows, Kate held senior roles at Munich Re and RGA, including Head of RGAX UK, where she led innovation and strategic partnerships across protection and reinsurance markets.

She has over 20 years’ experience across the protection market in the UK, EMEA and Asia Pacific, spanning reinsurance, product development and distribution. She has built expertise in developing customer-focused solutions and improving access to protection through data, digital and partnership models.

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Company Secretary

Krishna Raman is Company Secretary for Scottish Widows, responsible for governance oversight across the business.

He was previously General Counsel and Company Secretary at Schroders Personal Wealth, a joint venture established in 2019. He also previously led the Corporate and M&A legal team at Lloyds Banking Group.

Earlier in his career, he worked as a corporate lawyer at Allen & Overy, building experience across complex transactions, governance and financial services regulation.

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Investment Specialist

Lauren Gradys is a Product Manager in the Investments team at Scottish Widows. She leads the development of investment products and tools that support people at different stages of their financial journey, alongside driving greater awareness of how investing works in practice. 

She has over 20 years’ experience in financial services, her work centres on reducing complexity and helping people feel more in control of their financial decisions. 

Her experience includes helping customers understand how investing fits alongside shorter-term savings, with a focus on reducing complexity and supporting informed financial decision-making.

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Managing Director of Investments

Manuel Pardavila-Gonzalez is Managing Director of Investments at Lloyds Banking Group, where he leads the direct-to-customer (D2C) investments platform.

Manuel is currently responsible for the administration of c£32bn of customer assets across five brands, serving more than 550,000 customers. He has accountability for investment platforms, products, digital delivery and AI enabled transformation.

He has held senior roles across financial services, building experience in investment platforms, strategy and large-scale transformation within regulated environments.

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Chief Customer & Digital Officer

Maria Herrero-Bullich is Chief Customer & Digital Officer for Insurance, Pensions & Investments at Lloyds Banking Group.

Maria has extensive experience driving digital transformation and growth across the insurance sector. Prior to joining Lloyds Banking Group, she spent 2 years as Commercial Director at First Central and before that, ten years at Aviva, holding senior leadership roles across strategy, transformation, and digital operations.

She has built experience across digital transformation, customer experience and data-led decision making.

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Chief Risk Officer

Michael Downie is Chief Risk Officer for Insurance at Lloyds Banking Group.

He joined Lloyds Banking Group in May 2014 as Finance Director, Annuities and Protection, and has undertaken a variety of senior roles before being appointed to his current role in April 2025.

He began his career at Standard Life where he progressed through a variety of roles over 14 years, ultimately as a commercial director, also gaining significant international experience with periods working in Mumbai, Montreal, and Bermuda.

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Head of Investment Solutions

Mithesh Varsani is Head of Investment Solutions at Scottish Widows, where he develops investment strategies aligned to customer needs across the business.

Before joining Scottish Widows in 2025, Mithesh was Chief Investment Officer at Mobius Life, where he led the development of bespoke investment solutions for institutional clients over a 15-year period.

He has experience across strategic research, asset allocation and portfolio management, with a focus on designing and delivering investment strategies across defined benefit and defined contribution markets. He is a CFA Charterholder and holds a first-class degree in Mathematics with Economics.

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Chief Operating Officer

Nagla Thabet leads the Chief Operating Office for Insurance, Pensions & Investments at Lloyds Banking Group, overseeing a large-scale, multi-geography operation.

She has built her career at Lloyds Banking Group, developing expertise across customer operations, transformation and regulated financial services. She has led major change programmes including platform transformation, AI-enabled capability, product delivery and regulatory implementation.

Nagla began her career in academia and holds a PhD in Computational Linguistics, with research focused on natural language processing and data-driven analysis of language, before transitioning into financial services.

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Head of Pensions Policy

Pete Glancy is Head of Pensions Policy at Scottish Widows, where he leads policy engagement and strategy.

Pete has worked at Lloyds Banking Group for 36 years, holding a wide range of senior positions. He is Chair of the Policy Group at the Platforms Association and sits on the Pensions Panel at the CBI.

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Chief Investment Officer

Peter Fitzgerald is Chief Investment Officer at Lloyds Banking Group, with responsibility for investment strategy and portfolio management across the business.

Prior to this, Peter was Chief Investment Officer at Aviva Investors, where he led multi-asset and macro investment teams and managed a global macro strategy. He has over 25 years’ experience across global financial markets, including Asia, Latin America, Europe and the UK.

He has built experience across investment management, portfolio construction and product development, with senior roles at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, Insinger de Beaufort Asset Management and Old Mutual International.

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Retirement Expert

Robert Cochran is a retirement expert at Scottish Widows, specialising in customer engagement and communications within pensions.

Robert led employer and employee engagement teams at Scottish Widows and has worked across pensions engagement, collaborating with employers, advisers and policymakers to improve understanding and outcomes for pension customers.

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Head of Platform Propositions

Ross Easton is Head of Platform Propositions at Scottish Widows, he leads the Embark, Scottish Widows, and Stocktrade Share Dealing propositions with a collective purpose of delivering value for investors and enabling access to advice through the provision of market-leading solutions to UK financial advisers.

Before joining Scottish Widows, Ross spent thirteen years at Standard Life, Standard Life Investments and abrdn, where he led the design of the response to the Retail Distribution Review and later became Head of Proposition for the Standard Life Wrap platform.

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Director of Communications

Ross Keany is Director of Communications for Scottish Widows and Lloyds Banking Group’s Insurance, Pensions & Investments division.

Ross began his career in journalism before joining Bank of Scotland in 2001, and has held a range of communications roles across retail, commercial, insurance and group functions.

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Business Development Director

Susan Hope is a Business Development Director at Scottish Widows and a Chartered Financial Planner, specialising in workplace pensions and retirement planning.

Susan leads a national workplace pensions team and specialises in workplace pensions strategy, salary exchange, retirement planning and employer led solutions to improve financial well-being.

Susan is a leading spokesperson on the gender pension gap, using data, policy insight and lived experience to highlight the financial challenges women face across pay, pensions, investing and career breaks.

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People and Places Director

Tara Forde is People & Places Director for Scottish Widows and Insurance, Pensions & Investments at Lloyds Banking Group.

Prior to joining the Group, Tara was chief people officer at Experian and held senior leadership roles at Thermo Fisher Scientific and Agilent Technologies, with responsibility for organisational design, workforce strategy and culture transformation across global businesses.

She has more than two decades of global HR leadership experience spanning financial services, technology, healthcare and consumer sectors, with expertise in organisational transformation, culture and workforce strategy.

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Chief Financial Officer

Teddy Nyahasha is Chief Financial Officer for Insurance, Pensions & Investments at Lloyds Banking Group, where he leads financial performance, actuarial oversight, reporting and financial control across the business.

Teddy has over 30 years’ experience in financial services, including leading finance functions within large, multinational insurance and investment organisations.

He has built expertise in financial strategy, governance and regulatory reporting across complex, regulated environments. He is a qualified accountant and holds an MBA from London Business School, alongside additional qualifications in accountancy and statistics.

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