Chris Palmer

Partner at Obsidian Private Markets

Speaker

Chris is the former Head of Illiquid Assets Origination at Standard Life plc (formerly Phoenix Group plc), where he had prime responsibility for private assets. Before that, he was an investment director at ReAssure, leading up to the acquisition of ReAssure by Phoenix for £3.25bn in 2020, and before that, he was a trustee and chief investment officer of the company’s combined DB and DC UK pension scheme. At Phoenix, Chris set up its private assets business to be 16 professionals, managing £10bn of illiquid credit assets, deploying at a run rate of over £1.5bn per annum and including an in-house capability to source, execute and manage new transactions without any third-party asset manager partner. Since then, he has pursued a plural career, including as interim Chief Investment Officer for a medical indemnity mutual with £3bn of member assets, a Senior Adviser to an asset manager with £5bn of real asset investments and a Consultant to a UK asset manager and to a global private equity house.