BT announces Rod Kent as new chairman of trustees of BT pension scheme

BT today announced that Rod Kent will become Chairman of the BT Pension Scheme Trustees Ltd (BTPS) on January 1, 2008. This will be for an initial three year term.

Rod Kent succeeds Sir Tim Chessells who steps down after nine years (three 3-year terms). BTPS is the country’s largest company pension scheme. It has assets currently around £40 billion.

Sir Mike Rake, Chairman of BT said: “We are delighted that Rod Kent has agreed to take on the Chairman role. He brings an exceptional combination of business, investment and pensions experience, allied both to proven business success and to extensive board chairman skills.

“BT is very grateful to Sir Tim Chessells who has been a wonderful servant to the Scheme and its members for nearly a decade. He has presided over strong asset performance during a period of exceptional market and regulatory change”.

Rod Kent said: “I am delighted to have been asked to take on this role. Helping look after the long term interests of 350,000 Scheme members and their dependants is very important”.

Editors’ Notes:

The BT Pension Scheme Ltd (BTPS) is separate from BT and is administered by a Trustee Board. Under its Deed, the Board comprises nine trustees, including an independent Chairman, four member nominated trustees and four employer nominated trustees (of which two are BT executives). BTPS wholly owns the fund manager, Hermes, which manages the majority of the Scheme assets. Value of Scheme assets at 31 March 2007 were £38.3bn.

Rod Kent

Chairman of Close Brothers Group plc. Previously CEO.

Chairman of Bradford & Bingley plc.

Chairman, Whitbread Pension Scheme.

Previously Chairman of M&G plc.

Education: BA Classics, Corpus Christi, Oxford University
: MBA, INSEAD.

Age: 60.