New Board appointments at RPMI and RPMI Railpen

RPMI has appointed Julian Cripps as Managing Director, Investment Business, and as an Executive Director of the company. Reporting to CEO Chris Hitchen, Julian will lead RPMI Railpen, the in-house investment manager for the £25 billion railways pension arrangements.

Julian joined RPMI in 2015 as COO, Investments from River and Mercantile Asset Management plc and led the setting-up of new infrastructure to support the insourcing of asset management. He now takes a wider role in leading the business in its vision to be a world-class asset owner. RPMI Railpen’s three Investment Directors, Ciarán Barr (Scheme), Paul Bishop (Private Markets) and Richard Williams (Public Markets), are responsible for portfolio management and now report to Julian. Julian will sit on the RPMI Board with a remit to ensure that the investment business has the resources and direction it needs to produce good long-term outcomes for railway employers, workers and their families.

Julian Cripps said, “I am delighted to have this opportunity to lead our investment business as we continue to build our internal capability to generate superior returns for our three hundred and fifty thousand members and their families.”

Also joining the RPMI Board is Richard Jones, a Director of RPMI’s parent, the Railways Pension Trustee Company Limited (RPTCL). Richard has over twenty years’ engineering, commercial and general management experience in the rail industry, including British Rail, Virgin, Alstom and currently US consultant AECOM, where he leads UK corporate real estate.

At the same time John Chilman, Group Pensions Director at FirstGroup plc and Chair of RPTCL, is joining the Board of RPMI Railpen. As well as providing a strong link to the parent company, John brings substantial institutional investment experience through his management of FirstGroup’s global pension arrangements and as a former Chair of RPTCL’s own investment committee.

CEO Chris Hitchen said, “It’s fantastic that we have such strong Executive and Non-Executive Directors joining our Boards. I know that Julian will be a great leader for our investment business, and that Richard and John will provide strong governance whilst maintaining and strengthening our links to our rail stakeholders and the members whose pensions we are here to pay.”