L&G appoints Gary Smith to Independent Governance Committee
L&G today announces the appointment of Gary Smith to its Independent Governance Committee (IGC). Gary succeeds Daniel Godfrey, who has served as a member of the committee since September 2017.
As a member of the IGC, Gary will work alongside fellow committee members overseeing the interests of circa 2.7m members and £55bn assets under administration. As workplace schemes continue to grow and consolidate, there’s an increasing focus on value for money, robust governance and better long-term outcomes for members. Gary’s appointment further strengthens the breadth and depth of expertise on L&G’s IGC, supporting its role in ensuring that L&G continues to deliver value for money.
Gary brings more than 35 years' experience across the pensions and investment industry. Throughout his career, he has held several senior leadership positions spanning pension providers, investment management and consultancy, advising some of the UK's largest pension schemes.
His previous roles include Head of Defined Contribution at Schroders, Head of DC Investment at Willis Towers Watson (WTW), Co-Head of DC at BlackRock and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlas Master Trust.
Gary currently holds a portfolio of non-executive positions, including Trustee and Chair of the Investment Committee at now: pensions, alongside advisory roles with several innovative scale-up businesses.
Joanne Segars OBE, Chair of L&G's Independent Governance Committee, said: “We are delighted to welcome Gary to the Independent Governance Committee. His extensive pensions industry experience will bring valuable insight as we continue to oversee and challenge the value members receive from L&G’s workplace pension arrangements. I would also like to thank Daniel Godfrey for his significant contribution over the past nine years and for the positive challenge and commitment he has brought to the committee throughout his tenure.”
Gary Smith, IGC member, comments: “I'm pleased to be joining L&G's Independent Governance Committee at such a pivotal time for workplace pensions. I look forward to bringing my experience to the committee’s work and supporting L&G in delivering good outcomes for members, with a continued focus on positive member experiences and strong value for the costs and charges they pay.”
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Established in 1836, L&G is one of the UK's leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with £1.2 trillion in total assets under management (as at HY26) of which c. 44% (c. £0.5 trillion) is international. We have a highly synergistic business model, which continues to drive strong returns. We are a leading player in Institutional Retirement, in Retail Retirement and Protection solutions, and in Asset Management through both public and private markets. Across the Group, we are committed to responsible investing and dedicated to serving the long-term savings and investment needs of customers and society.
DC & Workplace Savings bridges our Retail and Asset Management businesses. It exemplifies both our synergistic model and our commitment to our clients, savers and society, uniting our expertise in managing assets with our deep customer knowledge and ongoing member journey innovation.
It currently looks after the retirement savings of 5.8 million members with over £128 billion in DC AUA, net flows of £6.2bn (as at end July 26) and we have won c.£7bn of schemes that will fund over the remainder of 2026, 2027 and 2028. By serving nearly one in six automatically enrolled UK DC pension scheme members in tech-driven, highly personalised ways, it plays a vital role in supporting better long-term financial outcomes nationwide. With a target of £40-50 billion of cumulative net flows into it by 2028, it’s also a very important part of our broader long-term strategy.