The pensions ombudsman, the chief executive of NatWest and the former chair of the Investment Association are among those who have been given awards in the King's New Year Honours list.
Anthony Arter has been the Pensions Ombudsman and Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman since May 2015, and was awarded an OBE for services to the pensions industry and to charity.
Arter will remain at the Pensions Ombudsman as Deputy Pensions Ombudsman once his term as Pensions Ombudsman ends on January 15, 2023.
Arter, pictured, is a solicitor who has specialised in pensions since 1996, and spent time as Eversheds LLP’s head of pensions as well as having been a senior partner at the firm until 2014.
He is also an independent trustee and was appointed as a pro bono trustee director of the Action for Children Pension Fund in 2018.
Arter said the award was "completely unexpected".
"I would like to thank the dedication of all my staff at The Pensions Ombudsman and what we have collectively achieved as one team, and also everyone that has helped me in my charity work over many years, which are very special memories," he said.
“Having advised pensions clients over many years I understood the importance of the brilliant service provided by The Pensions Ombudsman, both for the pensions industry and the public in its ability to resolve a pensions issue impartially and binding on all parties."
Alison Rose was awarded a DBE for her current leadership of NatWest Group, as the first woman to lead a major UK lending bank.
Rose joined the group as a graduate in 1992, and under her tenure NatWest has founded a number of environmental programmes, including the Net Zero Baking Alliance.
She also authored a government-commissioned review into female entrepreneurship which led to the establishment of the Investing in Women Code.
Also on the list was Keith Skeoch, former chief executive of Standard Life Aberdeen, and former chair of the Investment Association.
Skeoch was given a Knight Batchelor, which means he is knighted but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry.
He was given the award for his “strong contribution to the public good”, for his contribution to the Asset Management Taskforce, as well as his time as interim chair for the Financial Reporting Council, developing the UK’s new stewardship code.
The former permanent secretary who was sacked by previous chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on his first day in number 11 was awarded one of Britain’s highest accolades.
Tom Scholar joins the Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, for his work has permanent secretary to the Treasury between 2016 and 2022.
The government said he has been one of the “most influential civil servants of recent times”, leading both the Treasury through the pandemic, and the government through the global financial crisis in 2008.
Some 1,109 awards were given out in the first list signed off by King Charles, of which 548 were women.
Ivan Menezes, chief executive of Diageo, was included in the list, as well as Rolls-Royce chair Anita Frew and Lord Mark Sedwill, who stepped down as cabinet secretary in 2020.
sally.hickey@ft.com
