Katherine Ball

Trustee Director

Contact Information

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With over 30 years in the pensions industry, Katherine has extensive experience as an independent trustee and pension scheme actuary. She works collaboratively with all parties to achieve agreed objectives.

Katherine’s style is inclusive, but decisive – she likes to listen to all the ideas and views of a group but will give clear direction when the ultimate responsibility is hers. She is respected and trusted by those she works with.

Katherine focuses on building trusted and collaborative relationships with sponsoring employers, finding solutions to complex issues, and agreeing long-term objectives. She manages trustee advisory teams to deliver cost effective and high-quality advice and complex projects including buy-in transactions, GMP rectification and equalisation exercises and adviser selection.

Katherine has excellent technical knowledge that enables effective decision-making and the ability to challenge advisers, thus ensuring the smooth governance of the scheme and protecting members’ interests.

Katherine’s approach is to mentor other trustees to enhance the efficiency of the board, offering clear and simple guidance and coaching around any complex or technical issues, therefore ensuring that all trustees are able to participate in the decision-making process.

Katherine is fully accredited by the Association of Professional Pension Trustees.

 

“Katherine is a hands-on trustee who is friendly and approachable and open to advisers bringing views and ideas to the table for what the Trustees may wish to consider. She gives clear direction when needed, and has a very good, and collaborative working relationship with all the trustees’ advisers as well as other trustees on the board. Katherine is clearly very knowledgeable and is able to help explain things to the other trustees and give guidance on what may be expected of them as a trustee board. It is also clear that the other trustees respect Katherine’s opinion and trust her as Chair of Trustees. She is also comfortable asking questions of advisers and will often challenge us on advice being given, costs etc.”
Scheme Actuary, UK Pension Scheme

  • Adviser management and review
  • Chairing schemes and committees
  • Delivering governance services
  • Long-term objective setting / journey planning
  • Member option exercises
  • Mentoring lay trustees
  • Ongoing trusteeship of DB/hybrid schemes
  • Risk transfer exercises
  • Worked with DB and hybrid schemes at all stages of the pension lifecycle, including open schemes, closing to future accrual, and the journey to eventual buy-in/buy-out
  • Assisted trustee boards in preparation for The Pensions Regulator’s consolidated code of practice, including gap analysis and recommendations for next steps
  • Chaired boards with non-UK parented sponsors including European
  • Implemented changes in investment strategy including LDI strategies, fiduciary management and de-risking plans
  • Chaired and helped schemes navigate the 2022 LDI crisis working closely with advisers, sponsors and asset managers to ensure the best possible scheme outcome
  • Worked with advisers to improve service and reduce costs

 

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