18 July 2022

The Pensions Scams Industry Group (PSIG), which was established in 2014 to help protect pension scheme members from scams, today welcomed Christine Sawyer as new Chair to its Pension Scams Industry Forum (PSIF)*. Christine replaces outgoing Chair Tommy Burns who has held the position since its inception. Tommy recently retired from his corporate role but continues as Deputy Chair of PSIG to support the Chair, Margaret Snowdon.

Christine Sawyer commented: “I am passionate about making sure the great legacy created by Tommy continues. Part of that is ensuring many more pension schemes and individual trustees join our forum. Schemes must fully comprehend the complexities of the various new regulations and work with providers to protect pension savers – by joining the PSIF they can gain more insight from their peers and put themselves in the strongest position possible to do this; solely relying on administration departments is not good enough. As with all new legislation the challenge is in its interpretation and how ‘scammers’ react and change to work around it. However, I am confident that with industry support PSIF can continue the vital work of combating of pension scams.”

Margaret Snowdon, OBE, Chair at PSIG, said: “Our concept has always been a very simple one – by working together, rather than in isolation, we can combine our resources to develop a fuller and more informed intelligence picture and by doing so better protect members.  We have made great strides over the last few years but, sadly, as scammers become more sophisticated there continues to be much to do.  I would like to thank Tommy for all his sterling efforts getting us to this point and I am very much looking forward to working with Christine, who I know will continue to keep us one step ahead.”

Christine has over 20 years’ experience in a wide range of roles from pensions administrator, pensions consultant, head of business quality and pensions manager.  She is currently Scheme Manager at Invensys Pension Trustee Limited. Prior to this she was Director at Huckleberry Consulting and Management.

*The Pension Scams Industry Forum (PSIF) is a voluntary industry group that meets on a monthly basis to discuss pension scams threats and trends.  It operates under PSIG governance and is open to nominated organisations and is subject to strict rules on confidentiality and non-competition.

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