Michelle Ostermann, managing director of investments at Railpen which manages £30 billion in assets for the Railways Pension Schemes in the UK, discusses the pension fund’s continued evolution.
In this Fiduciary Investors Series podcast Amanda White talks to Michelle about the organisational change at Railpen – including more assets in-house, a new investment decision making framework, and an increased allocation to private assets – the importance of culture, and the intimate relationship between the fiduciary management and investment teams.
About Michelle Ostermann
Michelle Ostermann is responsible for the overall management and continuing development of the Railway Pension Scheme’s investment management capability. Her primary focus is to ensure it attracts and retains the best possible talent to achieve the long-term investment goals.She joined Railpen in January 2019 as chief fiduciary officer and was appointed managing director in December 2019. She has 25 years’ experience in the investment, insurance and pension industries. She joined Railpen from British Columbia Investment Management Corporation where she was senior vice president responsible for investment risk, strategy, research, and corporate relations. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
About Amanda White
Amanda White is responsible for the content across all Conexus Financial’s institutional media and events. In addition to being the editor of Top1000funds.com, she is responsible for directing the global bi-annual Fiduciary Investors Symposium which challenges global investors on investment best practice and aims to place the responsibilities of investors in wider societal, and political contexts. She holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Masters of Art in Journalism and has been an investment journalist for more than 25 years. She is currently a fellow in the Finance Leaders Fellowship at the Aspen Institute. The two-year program seeks to develop the next generation of responsible, community-spirited leaders in the global finance industry.
What is the Fiduciary Investors series?
The much-loved events, the Fiduciary Investors Symposiums, act as an advocate for fiduciary capitalism and the power of asset owners to change the nature of the investment industry, including addressing principal/agent and fee problems, stabilising financial markets, and directing capital for the betterment of society and the environment. Like the event series, the podcast series, tackles the challenges long-term investors face in an environment of disruption, and asks investors to think differently about how they make decisions and allocate capital.
