
BESTrustees is delighted to announce that Michelle Darracott has joined the firm as a professional trustee. She joined on 2 May.
Michelle is a highly accomplished award-winning senior business leader with a speciality in Pensions, Investments and Technology. Her most recent executive-level role was as Chief Strategy Officer at Smart Pension, where she was part of the core team responsible for a 2000% increase in the company’s growth and its expansion into four continents.
Michelle’s previous roles in Pensions include a number of senior strategy, digital and LDI roles in a long career at Legal & General Investment Management and eight years as a consulting actuary with Hewitt Associates (now Aon). In 2021 Michelle was awarded Fintech Woman of the Year and in 2022 was named as one of the top 100 global female leaders in Fintech by Innovate Finance.
“Recruiting Michelle is a huge coup for us and we are thrilled she has chosen to continue her successful career at BESTrustees. I have said before that 2023 is going to be a very exciting year for BESTrustees and new hires of Michelle’s calibre will deliver the growth and quality of service we are planning to deliver to our clients. I am sure Michelle will bring impressive amounts of experience and gravitas in equal measure.”
Zahir Fazal, Chairman, BESTrustees“I am delighted to be joining BESTrustees at a time when there continues to be so much change within the industry to navigate. I was attracted to BESTrustees due to their fantastic reputation and I am looking forward to working alongside some exceptional people.”
Michelle Darracott
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