From cyber security to pension governance: Why Jalal Moloo joined TAP

Bringing a risk mindset to pensions 

For Jalal Moloo, joining the PMI’s Trustee Accelerator Programme (TAP) offers an opportunity to take skills built over more than two decades in cyber security and IT risk management and apply them to a very different challenge: helping protect people’s financial futures. 

Having worked across sectors including hospitality, retail, transportation and logistics, Jalal’s career has taken him from technical architecture to senior information security roles, with a particular focus on governance, risk and compliance. 

“I’m used to protecting the data and systems of an organisation. I’d like to extend that into protecting people’s long-term financial security through strong pension governance," Jalal said.  

It was that link between his professional experience and the responsibilities of trusteeship that helped spark Jalal’s interest in TAP. Assessing risk, questioning whether controls are sufficient and helping senior decision-makers understand how risks should be managed are already central to his working life. 

Jalal believes that experience could also bring a different perspective to a pension scheme board. 

“I have that governance background from a technology standpoint,” he says. “I can utilise that same mindset to view things from a different angle.” 

Building better financial understanding 

But Jalal’s motivation goes beyond governance. He has also developed a strong interest in financial literacy and believes too many people only start thinking seriously about saving, investing and pensions later in life. 

It is something he already tries to address personally, encouraging his children, their friends and others he meets to think about their financial futures earlier. 

He has also volunteered as a mentor through a financial literacy programme run by a faith-based organisation, coaching people to think longer term about saving, property and preparing financially for the future. 

“People often realise quite late in life that they don’t really understand saving, investment or the power of compounding. I think it’s really important that people start thinking about these things earlier.” 

A future in trusteeship 

Now in his 50s, Jalal also sees TAP as part of his own longer-term career journey. As he eventually begins to step back from a full-time career in technology, becoming a pension trustee is something he can genuinely see himself pursuing. 

TAP gives him the opportunity to build the pensions knowledge needed to complement the governance and risk expertise he already has. 

For Jalal, the attraction is ultimately about transferring those skills into an area where he can make a difference, bringing a technology and risk perspective to trustee decision-making while helping pension schemes protect the long-term financial security of their members. 

He said: “I’ve spent my career thinking about risk and protecting organisations. Now I’d like to use that experience to help protect people’s financial futures, and hopefully help more people understand why planning early really matters.”