Women in Pensions: Breaking the Boardroom Barrier

Trustee boards, investment committees and senior management teams have historically skewed heavily male — a pattern that research consistently links to weaker governance outcomes and narrower decision-making. But across IAPF member schemes, a new generation of women is changing that picture. We spoke to five of them.

Aoife Brennan, Chair of Trustees, Brennan Group Pension Fund Aoife came to pension trusteeship from a career in HR, joining the board of her employer's scheme a decade ago as a member-nominated trustee. Today she chairs the board and has overseen a full restructuring of the fund's investment strategy, including its first allocation to sustainable infrastructure. "When I started, I was the only woman in the room," she says. "Now we have four women on a board of eight. That shift has changed how we think, how we challenge, and how we make decisions."

Sinéad O'Sullivan, Head of Pensions Policy, a major Irish financial institution Sinéad has spent fifteen years working on pension policy, first in the Department of Social Protection and now in the private sector, where she leads her organisation's response to auto-enrolment and IORP II implementation. She has been a vocal advocate for mandatory gender targets on trustee boards and is currently working with the IAPF on a governance diversity framework.

Dr Fionnuala Harte, Investment Committee Member, University Pension Scheme Fionnuala's background is in economics and climate science — an unusual combination that has proved highly valuable as her scheme navigates the transition to a net-zero investment strategy. She leads the committee's work on climate scenario analysis and is part of an IAPF working group developing practical ESG tools for Irish pension funds.

Maria Connolly, Member-Nominated Trustee, Construction Sector Pension Scheme Maria was encouraged to stand for her scheme's trustee board by a colleague and admits she initially felt out of her depth. Three years and two trustee training programmes later, she is one of the board's most active members, with a particular focus on member communications and financial literacy. "Too many members don't understand what their pension actually does," she says. "My job is to change that, one conversation at a time."

Patricia Dunne, Chief Pensions Officer, a leading Irish retail group Patricia oversees pension arrangements for more than eight thousand employees across Ireland and the UK. She was an early advocate within her organisation for moving to a master trust structure, a decision that has since reduced costs and improved governance for all members. She sits on two IAPF working groups and recently completed the association's senior trustee leadership programme.

The IAPF is committed to supporting diversity across the pension sector and encourages member schemes to consider gender balance as a core governance priority when appointing trustees and committee members.