Wesleyan has appointed Rita Bajaj to its Board of Directors.
Rita has over 30 years’ experience working in global investment markets including leading investment teams at Royal London and Invesco Perpetual. She has also managed global and US equity vehicles for several major US investment institutions.
Rita’s most recent executive role was Chief Administrative Officer (EMEA) at State Street Corporation, a US custodian bank. Prior to this she was at the Financial Conduct Authority where she managed the supervision of large UK asset management and custodian firms.
Currently, Rita is a Board member at Ecclesiastical Insurance and the London Pension Fund Authority, Non-Executive Director on Columbia Threadneedle OEIC Boards and an Independent Governance Member for Hargreaves Lansdown’s workplace SIPP Committee. She is an ambassador for the Diversity Project which is seeking to make the investment industry more inclusive.
Wesleyan Chair Nathan Moss welcomed Rita to the Board, saying: “We are delighted to have Rita as part of the Wesleyan team. She strengthens our Board by bringing a deep understanding of the governance and management of investments and the embedding of sustainability principles. This will be invaluable as we further develop our sustainable investing proposition.
“We also want to learn from Rita’s experience of working towards greater inclusion in the industry as we want to make rapid progress in our aim to be a more inclusive employer.”
A comment from Rita
“Wesleyan is a great business with a strong mutual heritage, a well-defined proposition and exciting plans for the future. I’m looking forward to sharing my broad investments experience and getting involved in the wider transformation programme as the business looks to enhance its culture and strengthen its business to benefit members and customers.”
Rita will also sit on the Investment Committee and Audit Committee.