Ecclesiastical freshens up board in growth push

Specialist insurer  Ecclesiastical is freshening up its board with the appointment of a new director as it continues to "push hard" to grow its business.

Rita Bajaj (pictured) joins the insurer's board as a non-executive director.

She has over 30 years of financial markets experience, having held senior investment portfolio manager positions at Royal London and Invesco Perpetual and managed global and US equity vehicles for several major US investment institutions.

Her most recent executive role was EMEA chief administrative officer at the US custodian bank State Street Corporation. She joined State Street from the Financial Conduct Authority where, as a former regulator, she managed the supervision of large UK asset management and custodian firms.

Currently, Rita is a board and investment panel member for the London Pension Fund Authority (LPFA), an Independent Governance Member for Hargreaves Lansdown’s workplace SIPP Independent Governance Committee and Senior Advisor to Sheffield Haworth.

Ecclesiastical said Bajaj is a passionate advocate for improving investment outcomes for investors, which also embed ESG and sustainability considerations.

“I’m delighted to welcome Rita to Ecclesiastical. Her knowledge, experience and ethics-driven approach will prove invaluable to the team, and I know she will bring energy and fresh thinking as we push hard to grow our business and grow our charitable giving,” said Mark Hews, group chief executive at Ecclesiastical.

Bajaj added: “I’m delighted to be joining the Ecclesiastical board. This is a unique financial services organisation, committed to making a positive difference to its customers and communities, and I share its values and ethics-driven approach. I’m looking forward to helping to shape the future of this impressive company.”

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