Our company

Romi Savova founded PensionBee in 2014 to simplify pension savings in the UK, following a difficult pension transfer experience of her own. As the Chief Executive Officer, she has led the company on its journey from startup to household name and publicly listed company. As a prominent industry leader, Romi frequently provides expert commentary for national news publications. Her expertise has garnered recognition through appearances on esteemed radio and TV channels, including Bloomberg, BBC News and Sky News.

Prior to founding PensionBee, Romi worked at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Credit Benchmark, holding varied roles in risk management, investment banking and financial technology. Romi received an MBA from Harvard Business School as a George F. Baker scholar and graduated summa cum laude from Emory University.

Jonathan Lister Parsons co-founded PensionBee with Romi in 2014. In his role as the Chief Technology Officer, he is passionate about bringing customers' pension experience into the 21st century, and using technology to transform pension transfer processes that typically take months to a five-minute process on a smartphone.

Jonathan champions a tech-forward culture within the business, aiming to raise the level of technology literacy among employees, and creating opportunities for people to develop technical skills as they move through different roles in their career at PensionBee.

Prior to co-founding PensionBee, Jonathan founded a digital consultancy, Penrose, and worked at British Telecom. Jonathan holds an MSci in Experimental and Theoretical Physics from the University of Cambridge.

Christoph J. Martin is the Chief Financial Officer of PensionBee, having joined the company in 2019. He is responsible for financial reporting and business planning at PensionBee. Christoph regularly engages with the public markets, including PensionBee’s investors, to communicate the company’s financial objectives.

Christoph previously worked in private equity investment at Providence Equity Partners, focusing on investments in technology, media, telecommunications and education. Prior to that he worked in mergers and acquisitions, covering financial institutions at Morgan Stanley. Christoph holds a BSc in Business Administration from the WU Vienna.

Mark Wood CBE has had a long and distinguished career, serving as Chief Executive of some of the country’s largest financial services companies, including Prudential UK & Europe, Axa UK and Jardine Lloyd Thompson Employee Benefits. Mark is a regular commentator in the press on pensions and insurance.

Mark has been at the helm of several financial services and technology start-ups, including Paternoster, a regulated insurance company which he founded in 2005, and Digitalis Reputation Management, the online reputation management company, where he currently serves as Chairman. Mark is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Mark was previously the Chairman of the NSPCC and was awarded a CBE in 2017 for services to children. He now serves as Chair of the Multiple Sclerosis £100m Research Appeal Board.

Mary Francis CBE has extensive and diverse board-level experience across a range of industries, including previous Non-Executive Directorships at the Bank of England, Alliance & Leicester, Aviva, Centrica and Swiss Re Group.

Through her former senior executive positions with HM Treasury, the Prime Minister’s Office, and as Director General of the Association of British Insurers, Mary brings strong governance values to the board, a strong understanding of the interaction between public and private sectors, and skills in strategic decision-making and reputation management.

Mary was awarded a CBE in 2006 for her services to business.

Lara Oyesanya has extensive legal, regulatory and commercial experience across multiple industries, as well as significant compliance, governance and data privacy expertise. She was formerly the Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Company Secretary at Zepz Group, and before that was General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer at Contis Group. She has also held a number of senior roles at FTSE 100 and financial services businesses including Klarna and Barclays.

Lara is a barrister of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. As a board trustee she is a member of the Commercial and Performance and the HR Committees, Shaw Trust. Additionally, Lara was a former co-opted Member, Committee on Benefactions and External and Legal Affairs, a committee of the University of Cambridge Council, that advised the Vice Chancellor.

Michelle Cracknell CBE has a portfolio career as a Pension Trustee and Non-Executive Director. She has over 30 years’ experience in pensions and retirement planning, including most recently as the Chief Executive of the Pensions Advisory Service. During her time there she significantly grew the number of customers and increased the channels offered, transforming the service to provide greater support on pension freedom legislation, pension scams and transfers from pension schemes.

Michelle started her career at a financial advice business where she became a shareholding Director prior to selling it to Aegon, and subsequently worked as a Strategy Director at Skandia/Old Mutual. Michelle is a qualified Pensions Actuary. Michelle was awarded a CBE in 2019 for her services to the pensions industry.

Lisa Picardo is PensionBee's Chief Business Officer UK, facilitating the ongoing execution of the company's strategy and corporate development in the United Kingdom. Lisa is a member of the Department for Work and Pensions’ Small Pots Delivery Group and represents PensionBee at the Association of British Insurers. Having joined PensionBee in 2020, she previously led the company's 2021 Initial Public Offering on the High Growth List Segment of the London Stock Exchange, its subsequent transfer to the Premium List, capital raising and initiatives to grow the business profitably.

Lisa previously held senior roles at Morgan Stanley, with 13 years spent in the European Mergers & Acquisitions department and the Global Private Equity Fund. She then founded and ran LITTLECIRCLE, an online fashion retailer. Lisa is a Founding Member of the Breast Cancer Now Development Board.

Jasper Martens is the Chief Marketing Officer of PensionBee, having joined the company in 2015. He is responsible for marketing across the business and brings extensive multichannel marketing experience to PensionBee, gathered over 15 years working in financial services and digital agencies.

Prior to joining PensionBee, Jasper was Head of Marketing and Communications at small business insurance provider, Simply Business and advised other fintechs such as Superscript on their marketing strategy. Before moving to London, Jasper ran his own online marketing agency which he founded in the Netherlands.

Tess Nicholson is the Chief Operating Officer of PensionBee, having joined the company in 2015. She is responsible for a range of operational activities across the business, including customer success, compliance and banking operations.

Tess was previously Operations Manager and UK Commercial Manager at GO Markets UK Trading Limited (formerly Vantage FX UK Trading Limited). Tess holds a BA Hons degree in Fashion Design with Communication from Birmingham City University and is currently studying for a Masters in Social & Political Theory at Birkbeck, University of London.

Clare Reilly is the Chief Engagement Officer of PensionBee, having joined the company in 2017. She is responsible for the investment range and managing the environmental, social and governance framework in line with the PensionBee vision.

Clare previously worked in the not-for-profit sector, in Corporate Relations at Citizens Advice and Fellowship at the Royal Society of Arts. Clare holds a BA Hons from University College London and an MSc from the University of Oxford in Russian and East European Studies.

Matthew Cavanagh is the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of PensionBee, having previously worked as General Counsel to the company in 2015 and re-joining the company in September 2023. Matthew heads PensionBee Group's legal function, with responsibility for the provision of legal advice to all aspects of the business and its respective boards, and managing PensionBee's external legal advisory relationships.

A lawyer with over 20 years experience in private practice at leading international law firms Clifford Chance, Linklaters and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom,a partner at King & Wood Mallesons SJBerwin, General Counsel & Partner at Christofferson, Robb & Company and Director, Executive Legal Counsel at the Qatari sovereign wealth fund (the QIA). He is a solicitor qualified in England & Wales, Ireland and Australia (Queensland and High Court of Australia). Matthew holds an LLM (specialising in Commercial Law), LLB (Hons) and BA (Double Major in Chinese) from The University of Queensland.

Petra Miskov is the Chief Risk Officer of PensionBee, having joined the company in 2022. She is responsible for enterprise risk management, including maintaining an integrated risk framework, with a special interest in collaborative risk culture.

Prior to joining PensionBee, Petra worked at the London Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs, Ernst & Young, KPMG and Mercer in a variety of senior roles in the areas of risk management, quantitative advisory, investment management and pension consulting. Petra holds a MSci in Mathematics and Statistics from the New York University and she graduated summa cum laude from the City University of New York.

Matthew Cevik Loft is the Chief Design Officer at PensionBee, a role he has held since 2015. He is responsible for leading the company’s strategic pillar of Product Innovation, overseeing the user experience of its products, and shaping its visual brand identity. Matt manages the Product, UX Design, Visual Design, and User Research teams, bringing over 20 years’ experience in creating customer-centric digital experiences. He is passionate about inclusivity and accessibility in design.

Before joining PensionBee, Matt worked in both agency and in-house settings. His diverse portfolio includes work for The Money Advice Service, Legal & General, the Ministry of Justice, Oxford University, and the V&A.