Vinny Ehzuvan was named CEO of British Airways Pension Services Ltd., Harmondsworth, England, which oversees about £26.5 billion ($37.4 billion) in pension fund assets.
Mr. Ehzuvan replaces Fraser Smart effective July 1, a spokesman said. Mr. Smart left the business June 1.
Mr. Ehzuvan expands his role as chief operating officer at BA Pensions and was identified as "the outstanding candidate" to replace Mr. Smart, a news release said. He became COO in April 2018.
"Our two trustee boards are delighted to have Vinny expand his responsibilities at BA Pensions," said Roger Maynard, chairman of the Airways Pension Scheme Trustee and New Airways Pension Scheme Trustee, in the news release. "Vinny has already played a major role in transforming the company and is ideally suited to assume these added responsibilities, thanks to his integral knowledge of all aspects of the organization and his ability to build strong relationships throughout the pensions industry."
BA Pensions provides member, operational and administrative services for the New Airways Pension Scheme, which had £19.4 billion in assets as of March 31; and the Airways Pension Scheme, which had £7.4 billion in assets also as of March 31.
BA announced earlier this month that it had struck a deal to outsource the management of £21.5 billion of its NAPS and APS plans to BlackRock. The assets were, until this point, run by BA's in-house manager, British Airways Pension Investment Management Ltd.
About £5.3 billion of the APS fund's liabilities have already been insured through buy-ins. The management of the remaining non-insurance assets — about £2 billion — was transferred to BlackRock under the new agreement.
As part of the outsourced CIO deal, a number of BA Pensions staff — including David Stewart, CIO, and John St.Hill, deputy CIO — also transferred to BlackRock.
