Rising Star Awards 2025 Shortlist
Here they are. The finalists for this year's Professional Pensions Rising Star Awards...
A huge congratulations to all those who have made the shortlist for 2025.
This year, Professional Pensions has had an amazing response - with an extremely high volume of very high quality entries. All entries have now been assessed by our panel of eminent judges and we are thrilled to reveal this year's shortlist.
The winners will be announced at a awards ceremony on 12 November at The Brewery.
To book a table for the event, please click here. Please note that you will be redirected to our Women in Pensions Awards website where you can process your booking for the event.
2025 Shortlist
8
Administrator of the Year
Chloe Tinkler (Trafalgar House)
James Turner (Quantum Advisory)
Jenny Smith (Quantum Advisory)
Katie Moore (XPS Group)
Richard Empson (Surrey Pension Fund)
Richard Orford (Barnett Waddingham)
Saleem Shadman (NHS Business Service Authority)
Shannon Ryan (Cartwright Pension Trusts)
13
Actuarial / Advisory Trainee of the Year
Abigail Thomas (Barnett Waddingham)
Alex Kelly (Hymans Robertson)
Annabel Fredericks (Barnett Waddingham)
Avinash Harkison (Isio)
David John Jervis (Quantum Advisory)
Duncan Cameron (WTW)
Hana McMath (Aon)
Jack Johnson (Hymans Robertson)
Kate Wimbush (LCP)
Keren Thomson (Hymans Robertson)
Lauren Branney (Hymans Robertson)
Lucy Mearns (Aon)
Struan Paton (Hymans Robertson)
11
Trainee of the Year
Callum Duckmanton (Burges Salmon)
Cara Gordon (Mercer)
Ceara Grey (EY)
Helen Chapelhow (Surrey Pension Team)
Joshua Ved (Isio)
Katie Hunter (CMS)
Meg Kenny (Barnett Waddingham)
Mia le Fleming (Aon)
Rebecca Robson (Capita Pensions Solutions)
Rebekah Hill (Mercer)
Zander Kasparian (Hymans Robertson)
14
Rising Star of the Year
Abigail Kwao (BlackRock)
Amber Patel (LCP)
Anisha Gill (Aon)
Calum Edgar (Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management)
Connor Mackay (XPS Group)
Emma Louise Birch (LCP)
Emma Roberts (Dalriada Trustees)
Femi Adigun (Nest)
Harriet Burchett (Eversheds Sutherland)
Jack Carmichael (Barnett Waddingham)
Joel Curtis (XPS Group)
Lauren Branney (Hymans Robertson)
Rohit Meena Rajesh (PwC)
Wojciech Busz (Brightwell)
12
Mentor of the Year
Alison Cribbs (Eversheds Sutherland)
Amy Gibbs (Capita Pension Solutions)
Edward Burns (Aon)
Hayley Sherry Gibson (Hymans Robertson)
Hikmatali Shariff (Mercer)
Laura Sherry (XPS Group)
Leanne Coomber (Dalriada Trustees)
Mark Jenkins (CMS)
Martin Coelho (Hymans Robertson)
Paul Tucknott (People's Partnership)
Priya Jassal (Capita)
Priya Patel (LCP)
12
Investment Trainee of the Year
Abby Larmour (Barnett Waddingham)
Ali Asghar (LCP)
Ben Phipps (Mercer)
Charlotte Watson (Barnett Waddingham)
Daniel Morris (Aon)
Eleanor Osborn (Mercer)
Finlay Grant (XPS Group)
George Cooper (XPS Group)
Jacob Smith (Aon)
Jessica Lin (Aon)
Lauren Davis (Payden & Rygel)
Neil Patience (Aviva)
9
Team of the Year
Aon's Risk Settlement Group
Aviva's Workplace Member Communications Team
Clara-Pensions
Continuous Improvement Team - Peoples Partnership
i-FLO (Isio)
Now:Pensions Client Team (Cardano)
PIC Origination Team
The Standard Life Bulk Purchase Annuity (BPA) team
XPS Group - Calculate Team
5
Organisational Award - Training Scheme of the Year
Deloitte
Independent Governance Group (IGG)
Legal & General
RSM
WTW
2
Investment Manager of the Year
George Vinod (Van Lanschot Kempen)
Tom Brophy (Aon)
13
Actuary / Consultant of the Year
Abhishek Singh (Deloitte)
Adrian Loughlin (Hymans Robertson)
Andrew Murphy (Mercer)
Ben Bailey-Conlon (Isio)
Emily Eskandari (Pacific Life Re)
George Christopher Ellis (WTW)
Jack Carmichael (Barnett Waddingham)
Lauren Branney (Hymans Robertson)
Saanvi Vasudevan (LCP)
Shanu Ghai (PwC)
Stephen Lee (PwC)
Stephen McIlwraith (Hymans Robertson)
William Scott (Clara Pensions)
9
Lawyer of the Year
Sponsored By: 
Callum Duckmanton (Burges Salmon)
Cindy Pereira Smith (Travers Smith)
Hayley Sherry Gibson (Hymans Robertson)
Jess Peart (Eversheds Sutherland)
Oliver Hunt (Eversheds Sutherland)
Santi Bicchieri (CMS)
Sara Summerscales (Pinsent Masons)
Thomas Bates (CMS)
Yavor Georgiev (People's Partnership)
6
Trustee of the Year
Sponsored by: 
Bang Hoang (Independent Governance Group)
Ben Salmons (Vidett)
Chris Tabersham (Independent Governance Group)
Joe Ireland (Independent Governance Group)
Kirsty Bain (Dalriada Trustees)
Nikesh Patel (Independent)
7
Organisational Award - Award for Supporting Development
CMS (Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang)
Deloitte
Independent Governance Group (IGG)
Legal & General
Mercer
Gallagher
WTW
10
Excellence in Customer Service and Communication Award
Sponsored by: 