Mercer’s Ali Tayyebi joins Barnett Waddingham as Partner

Mercer Partner Ali Tayyebi has joined Barnett Waddingham, as the actuarial consultancy looks to further enhance the team advising its large pension scheme clients. Tayyebi brings more than three decades of experience to the firm.

Commenting on the news, Barnett Waddingham Partner and Head of Actuarial Consulting Paul Houghton said, “Our continued commitment and investment in the DB pensions market is underpinned by our market-leading technology and the depth of our resource; and this in turn allows us to continually improve the quality of the service we deliver to all of our clients. Ali, with his vast range of experience, will add another dimension to our already established actuarial team as they support the bespoke services we provide each client.”

Joining the firm as a Partner, Tayyebi will now advise defined benefit schemes across the UK, with a particular focus on large schemes, drawing on his past expertise to achieve this.

Over the course of his career, he has been scheme actuary to a number of large, high profile clients – including a significant number of FTSE 100 sponsored pension schemes. In this role he supported trustees in working with sponsors to design and implement journey plans, using various types of contingent funding arrangements and trigger based de-risking.

Speaking on his latest role, Tayyebi said, “The next few years will be a critical and vibrant period for pension schemes which provides a great opportunity for Barnett Waddingham to continue growing its market share of the larger schemes. I am therefore very excited to be joining the company as we work together on that journey.”

Tayyebi joins Barnett Waddingham after a 30-year career at Mercer, where he held a number of management and professional leadership responsibilities – including leader of its retirement business’ Northern region offices, head of DB risk consulting and chief actuary. He also supported complex pension scheme restructuring involving partial wind-ups, bulk transfers and liability management exercises, among other things.

Barnett Waddingham Senior Partner Andrew Vaughan added, “Ali’s appointment supports our continued growth and position as a leading independent consultancy in the DB market, where we advise a wide range of schemes across the size spectrum… His vast experience and unprecedented expertise in the larger scheme arena are invaluable qualities which supplement the already extensive experience of the current Barnett Waddingham team.”