He succeeds Janice Turner, the founding Co-Chair and will sit alongside Maggie Rodger, who continues in her role as Co-Chair.

John is a Trustee of both the National Gas Transmission Pension Scheme and Church of Scotland Pension Scheme and is a Member of the Employer Committee of the Scottish Housing Association Pension Scheme. He has been an AMNT committee member for several years.

Commenting on his appointment as Co-Chair he said:

“I look forward to continuing the fight to protect members interests as Co-Chair of the AMNT. Member Nominated Trustees are a vital safeguard for members. We are the only ones on a board whose sole focus is on member outcomes - yet the position is currently being eroded. Government and the Regulator would do well to remember why the position was created in the first place, after the Maxwell scandal, when those who were suppposed to be independent and acting in members interest ‘looked the other way’ as funds were plundered and lives ruined”.

Among a multitude of issues about member outcomes, fair sharing of surpluses with sponsor and adequacy in general, John says “The slide towards sole trusteeship is deeply worrying in this context as it could take us back in some ways to the ‘bad old days’ when independence of thought and deed could not always be guaranteed. I am pleased that the Regulator has listened to our concerns and has announced an enquiry into this issue. Member protection is paramount and we as an organisation will fight to ensure that this remains front and centre in any future discussions”.

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-Ends-

Notes to Editors:

If you would like a photo or to talk/interview/ or meet with John then please contact Andrew Sharkey by replying to this email or calling 07711 825 439.

John Flynn Background

John spent 44 years within the UK Energy Industry's Finance Departments. He recently, retired from National Grid Plc's in-house Tax Team as an Indirect Tax Manager. He is currently:

- Accredited Trustee of National Grid’s UK Pension Scheme.
- Member Elected Director – National Grid UK Pension Scheme Trustee Ltd; One of the largest U.K. based industrial pension funds with an annual pension payroll of £500m, 56,000 members and some £9.3 Billion of assets under management.
- Trustee of Church of Scotland Pension Scheme.
- Member of the Employers' Committee of the Scottish Housing Association Pension Scheme (SHAPS).
- Executive Committee Member of the Association of Member Nominated Trustees.
- Chairperson & Non-Exec at the Ore Valley Housing Group; a registered social landlord in Fife
- Board Member on company boards within the Ore Valley Group.
- Tribunal Member on the Local Taxation Chamber, First-tier Tribunal for Scotland.
- Member of The Labour Party.
- Member of the National Trust for Scotland.
- Member of the St Vincent DePaul Society

The Association of Member Nominated Trustees was established in September 2010 to bring together member-nominated trustees, directors and representatives of public and
private sector pension schemes to give trustees a collective voice, to provide mutual support and information exchange and to campaign on matters of concern.

Our members are from pension funds with collective assets of approximately £1-trillion.  In addition our membership is focussed on speaking on behalf of pension scheme members, because being a scheme member is a requirement for becoming an MNT and has a particular part to play in scheme governance.

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