Barnett Waddingham appoints new Non-Executive Chair

Actuarial consultancy Barnett Waddingham has appointed Elizabeth Renshaw-Ames as its new Non-Executive Chair. She brings nearly 40 years of professional services experience to the role, which she takes up following the standing aside of the incumbent Keith Satchell.

Founded in 1989, Barnett Waddingham has since grown to become the UK’s largest independent provider of actuarial, administration and consultancy services. The firm employs more than 750 employees across seven UK offices, including 64 Partners. The firm, which acts for a wide range of clients, large and small, in both the private and public sectors, worked throughout 2018 to bolster its offering in a period of heightened demand for expert advice in the UK consulting industry.

With the firm in a strong position going forward, Non-Executive Chair Keith Satchell decided in January that the time was right to stand down from his role. Satchell had spent the last 11 years in the position, and as the news broke, Nick Salter, Senior Partner at Barnett Waddingham, remarked that the firm had been “very fortunate to have had Keith”, calling his input as Chair “invaluable.”

Now, the firm has announced that it has found Satchell’s successor: industry veteran Elizabeth Renshaw-Ames. The consulting sector stalwart has been installed as Barnett Waddingham’s new Non-Executive Chair at the end of January 2019. Renshaw-Ames brings extensive experience in the pensions and professional services industries to the role, having cultivated a four-decade career in the professional services sector.

Renshaw-Ames commenced her career with Big Four firm PwC in 1980, working as a Senior Auditor in both London and San Diego, California, over the course of an eight-year stay. After a two-year stint as CFO of Russell Reynolds Associates, she returned to PwC, reaching the role of Director in its UK Insurance & Investment Management practice before exiting in 2003. She then spent 11 years with Mercer, one of the UK’s largest pension advisory firms.

She was made a Senior Partner and UK Head of Client Management at Mercer, before 2015 saw Renshaw-Ames named UK CEO of HSBC’s Bank Pension Trust. This is a role she still holds, alongside being a member of the Governing Body and Audit Committee of Anglican charity and publishing business, SPCK.

Commenting on the appointment, Nick Salter said, “Elizabeth is as an experienced leader with an extensive career in professional services and demonstrable commercial, consulting and leadership skills. As we continue to grow as a business, the role of Non-Executive Chair is increasingly important to challenge our activity and decisions, to ensure we continue to maintain our strong values and do the best for our clients and the future success of Barnett Waddingham.”

Elizabeth Renshaw-Ames herself added, "I will bring to the role my expertise and insight from a long career in professional services, in particular my leadership skills and experience in implementing effective practical governance solutions. I am looking forward to working with the leaders at Barnett Waddingham to enable them to develop and grow the firm for the future, for the benefit of the clients, partners and people of Barnett Waddingham."