Irish Pension Fund Investment Forum Archives

Founded in 2014, the purpose of the Irish Pension Fund Investment Forum is to improve the quality of information available to pension funds leading to the development of more relevant and efficient management, a better understanding of investment processes and eventually, improved performance.

By bringing together pension fund representatives with service providers, the seminars are designed to provide robust and objective discussions. All members may attend the meetings but a key requirement for all non-pension fund members and speakers is that the selling of products or services is not permitted.

There are two categories of membership. One for representatives of Pension Funds and similar Institutional Investors such as charities, foundations or other non-commercial organisations. Members include representatives of Irish Pension Funds as well as other European and multinational companies’ pension funds. The other is open to a limited number of other representatives from the pensions and investment industry.

The Irish meetings are held in suitable locations in Dublin. Additional meetings include an International Seminar in September.

The Forum is advised by an Advisory Committee, comprising only pension fund representatives, who ensure that the topics being discussed are relevant and helpful.

Most recent meetings.

Advisory Committee Members

Frank O'Riordan

Chair, Investment Committee, AIB Pension Scheme

Frank O'Riordan is a Pensions Trustee, Independent Non Executive Director and Consultant. He has over 30+ years of deep and multi-faceted investment management experience and is fully approved by the Central Bank under Fitness and Probity standards.
He has extensive executive experience at Chief Investment Officer level and as an Independent Director of 7 UCITs/ICAV Funds. He is Chair of the Investment Committee of the AIB Ireland Pension Scheme. He has consulted for a range of Boards and Investment advisors in Ireland and overseas.
He is a Director of the Retirement Planning Council of Ireland and was President of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments in Ireland. Frank joined the EPFIF Irish Advisory Committee in July 2022.

Aileen Gerrard

Scheme Secretary, Bank of Ireland Group Pensions

Aileen has over twenty years' experience with the Bank of Ireland Group having held various roles in Internal Audit, Operational Risk and Finance in Consumer Banking, before joining Group Pensions, People Services in 2013. She is the Scheme Secretary for four BOI Group Pension schemes including the largest Defined Benefit (DB) scheme in the Group (with €6bn of assets) and has an oversight role on policies and procedures of other schemes managed by Group Pensions. She is a graduate of TCD (B.A. (Mod) in Business and Economics) and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.

James O'Loughlin

Group Pensions Manager, ESB Pension Scheme (Electricity Supply Board)

James has overall responsibility for managing all aspects of both the ESB Defined Benefit Pension Scheme and the ESB Defined Contribution Scheme (RetireSmart). Prior to taking up the role at the start of 2015, James held many senior roles in ESB including HR, Property and Finance. James is a Fellow of the Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and also holds a BA Degree in Economics and English.

Charles Coase

Trustee Chairman, Ulster Bank Pension Scheme (Republic of Ireland)

Charles has been a pension scheme trustee since 2000 and now works as an independent trustee and chairman for various schemes including those of Aviva Ireland, Ulster Bank Ireland, Dublin Airport and Mott MacDonald in the UK. In aggregate, the pension schemes where Charles serves as a trustee have some 20,000 members and assets of €4 billion. Charles had a "first" career of over 25 years with Diageo in a variety of finance roles, including Finance Director Ireland, Group Treasurer and Head of Global Audit & Risk. He left Diageo in 2014. Charles also serves in a voluntary capacity on the Governing Authority of UCD, where he chairs the finance committee, and as a trustee of The Iveagh Trust, a social housing association in Dublin. (03.23)

Benelux Forum – Belgian Meetings.

Benelux Forum – Dutch Meetings.

International Seminar.