Trevor Matthews

Executive Director, Developed Markets, Aviva

Biography

Trevor Matthews joined Aviva in December 2011 as Chief Executive of Aviva UK which comprises the Life and Pensions and General Insurance businesses. Trevor is also on the Board of Aviva plc and a member of Aviva's executive committee.

Between July 2008 and June 2010 Trevor was director and Chief Executive Officer of Friends Provident plc (subsequently Friends Life). Prior to this he was Chief Executive of Standard Life Assurance limited from 2004 to July 2008. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Japan from 2001 to 2004 and Executive Vice President of Canadian Operations and Chairman of Manulife Bank from 1998 to 2001. Between 1996 and 1998 Trevor was General Manager Personal Financial Services of National Australia Bank and Managing Director, Legal & General Assurance Holdings Australia Limited from 1989 to 1996.

Trevor is Chairman of the Financial Skills Partnership and was President of the Chartered Insurance Institute from July 2008 to July 2009. In 1997 he was President of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia (Centenary Year).

Toby Strauss

MD, Life, Pensions & Investments, Lloyds Banking Group

Biography

Toby Strauss joined Lloyds Banking Group as Group Director for Insurance in October. Toby leads Insurance as a whole, in addition to his role as MD of the Life, Pensions and Investments business.

Toby was UK Life CEO at Aviva and prior to this he was Chief Operating Officer for UK Life, having joined Aviva in 2008. 

He previously worked at Charcol, becoming Managing Director before moving to JS & P as Chief Executive.

Before to 2002, Toby spent a number of years at McKinsey, specialising in the financial services and technology sectors.

Trevor Matthews

Executive Director, Developed Markets, Aviva

Biography

Trevor Matthews joined Aviva in December 2011 as Chief Executive of Aviva UK which comprises the Life and Pensions and General Insurance businesses. Trevor is also on the Board of Aviva plc and a member of Aviva's executive committee.

Between July 2008 and June 2010 Trevor was director and Chief Executive Officer of Friends Provident plc (subsequently Friends Life). Prior to this he was Chief Executive of Standard Life Assurance limited from 2004 to July 2008. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Japan from 2001 to 2004 and Executive Vice President of Canadian Operations and Chairman of Manulife Bank from 1998 to 2001. Between 1996 and 1998 Trevor was General Manager Personal Financial Services of National Australia Bank and Managing Director, Legal & General Assurance Holdings Australia Limited from 1989 to 1996.

Trevor is Chairman of the Financial Skills Partnership and was President of the Chartered Insurance Institute from July 2008 to July 2009. In 1997 he was President of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia (Centenary Year).

Toby Strauss

MD, Life, Pensions & Investments, Lloyds Banking Group

Biography

Toby Strauss joined Lloyds Banking Group as Group Director for Insurance in October. Toby leads Insurance as a whole, in addition to his role as MD of the Life, Pensions and Investments business.

Toby was UK Life CEO at Aviva and prior to this he was Chief Operating Officer for UK Life, having joined Aviva in 2008. 

He previously worked at Charcol, becoming Managing Director before moving to JS & P as Chief Executive.

Before to 2002, Toby spent a number of years at McKinsey, specialising in the financial services and technology sectors.

Mike Kellard

Chief Executive Officer, AXA Wealth

Biography

Mike Kellard is CEO, AXA Wealth. AXA Wealth comprises AXA Distribution Services (home of Elevate, the award-winning wrap platform), Architas Multi-Manager, AXA Winterthur Wealth Management, Bancassurance and AXA Wealth International, including AXA's Isle of Man and Dublin-based operations.

Following AXA's acquisition of the Winterthur Group in 2006, Mike was appointed CEO of AXA's Wealth Management business. At this time he was also appointed to the Executive Committee of AXA UK, a reflection of the strategic importance of his role.

In 1999, Mike joined Winterthur Life as sales director. He subsequently became managing director of Winterthur Life's Professional Advisers Division, where he was responsible for all sales, marketing and administration functions. In 2003, Mike was appointed CEO Winterthur Life UK Ltd.

Mike Kellard has 22 years experience working in the investment and life and pensions markets. He has held a variety of industry positions including head of distribution for Norwich Union.

Mike, who lives in Hampshire, is married with two young sons and enjoys golf, tennis, badminton, skiing and sailing.

Andrew Fisher

Group Chief Executive, Towry

Biography

Andrew is Chief Executive of Towry, the Wealth Managers, prior to that he was Chief Executive of Cox Insurance Holdings Plc., the Group Chief Executive of Coutts Group the Wealth Management business of Royal Bank of Scotland, incorporating Coutts & Co. Coutts International, Nat West Private Bank, Nat West Stockbrokers and the RBS Private Banks. During his earlier career Andrew was a senior advisor to one of the world's largest private equity group, the Carlyle Group, and a Partner in the Consultancy practice of Coopers and Lybrand. Andrew is deputy Chair of CHASM (Centre for Household Assets and Savings Management) at the University of Birmingham and also on the DAC (Development Advisory Committee) at Birmingham University. He is on the Board of The National Skills Academy for Financial Services and the Finance Governor for Sandhurst School.

Marlene Shalton

President, Institute of Financial Planning

Biography

Marlene is a Certified Financial PlannerCM Professional &, Fellow of the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP) and Chartered Financial Planner. She established her Financial Planning practice in 1991, aiming to provide a personal but professional Financial Planning Service and in 2007 sold the business to Bluefin. She continues as a Financial Planner and Wealth Manager with Bluefin and is involved in training, mentoring and trantionsing the advisers to Planners within the company. She only wants to work with those who are committed to achieving their lifetime goals and objectives

Marlene started her career as a Probation Officer and has 13 years experience in personal and counselling skills.

She is currently the President of the IFP. Marlene is passionate about Financial Planning and voices this regularly to the media. Recently she was awarded Best Financial Planner in the New Breed Adviser awards 2009 (supported by High Net Worth magazine) and in December 2008, Retirement Planner of the Year. In January 2009, with colleague Julie Lord, she also won the New Model Adviser award for Wales.

Steve Jenkins

Director of Financial Markets, CII

Biography

Steve has over 30 years experience in financial services. Much of Steve’s early career was spend working in various roles within the AXA group in the life sector. He held a series of senior sales management positions before establishing the operational infrastructure of AXA’s UK in house distribution arm following the merger with Sun Life in 1998.

More recently Steve was heavily involved in shaping AXA’s response to regulatory change in the UK life market and latterly was Head of Bancassurance.

Steve joined the CII in 2006 with a brief to lead its corporate and market relationships across Financial Services.  Steve has played a leading role in shaping the CII’s response to the FSA’s Retail Distribution Review a key element of which has been the promotion of professional standards. In 2008 he took additional responsibility for the CII’s external relationships in General Insurance.

Steve is also responsible for the CII’s operations in International markets including India, Middle East and Asia Pacific where the CII has a local presence and has supported Regulators with its qualifications across life and non-life markets.

Steve is a Chartered Insurance Practitioner

Ian Ackerly

Head of Direct Investments, Barclays

Biography

After graduating with a degree in Psychology from the University of St Andrews Ian spent five years with Shell where he held three positions including International Motorsport Manager which required him to travel the world and attend Formula One Grand Prix.

He subsequently successfully completed a full time MBA at London Business School and then moved into consultancy, working for McKinsey & Company for over three years, working largely in the Financial Services Practice, initially in Sydney Australia but later London.

In 1996 he moved into line management in financial services joining Sun Life (which became AXA Sun Life during this period) as Head of Corporate Development and subsequently Managing Director of Sun Life International.

He moved to AMP UK in 2001 where he was Strategy Director, and then Director of Direct Distribution which included responsibility for a range of business activities (e.g. on line wealth management (AMPLE) and London Life).

In 2004 he returned to consulting in the UK financial services sector supporting several large financial service companies in addressing key strategic distribution and growth issues.

In June 2009 he joined Virgin Money as Managing Director with responsibility for the UK Investment, Pensions and Savings business.

Most recently, in October 2011, he joined Barclays Retail Bank as Director of Investments with responsibility for a business with approximately 250,000 investment customers and £10bn asset under management.

Stuart Tragheim

Director, Distribution Strategy, Business Development, LV=

Biography

Stuart Tragheim is Director, Distribution Strategy & Business Development for LV=.

Specific responsibilities include the ongoing development of LV’s Life & Pensions distribution strategy and the development of business relationships with the largest IFA businesses and corporate partners.

Previously Director of Intermediary Business, Stuart joined the friendly society in 2005 from the Association of British Insurers, where he had been Director of the ABI’s Raising Standards scheme and latterly as Human Resources Director.

He has worked in financial services since 1983 and has held a number of senior positions including Sales Director for Teachers Provident Society and Regional Sales Manager for TSB Insurance Brokers Ltd.

Stuart contributes to the activities of a number of UK financial services trade associations (for example ABI) and as a former Chairman of ILAG, Stuart is currently a member of their Board.

LV= is the largest Friendly Society in the UK and the 4th largest mutual insurer.

Ian Morgan

Head of Financial Services, Google UK

Biography

Ian Morgan joined Google in September 2006 and, as part of the UK leadership team reporting to the UK MD, is responsible for managing Google's Digital Media & technology relationships with the UK's major financial services providers. This involves working with CMOs and E Commerce Directors from the FTSE top 250 Finance companies to ensure that digital becomes an integral part of business strategy and the overall marketing mix to help achieve both brand & acquisition objectives.

Ian was previously Head of Online Banking at Barclays Bank, responsible for the commercial performance & strategic development of Barclays Internet Channels.

Prior to Barclays, held a series of senior Marketing & Product Development roles within both Thomas Cook & BUPA.

Ian has a BA Honours degree in History from Liverpool University and an MBA from the Open Business School.

Married with two children.

Interests include tennis, rugby and long distance running / triathlon.

Rob Fisher

Executive Director, Marketing, DC & Workplace Savings, Fidelity Worldwide Investment

Biography

Rob Fisher is Executive Director/Head of Marketing for Fidelity’s DC and Workplace Savings Business.

Mr Fisher joined Fidelity in March 2001.   For the past eight years he has worked in several distribution roles within Fidelity’s UK Retail Business, including Head of Sales & Marketing for FundsNetwork (where he was responsible for all aspects of the platform’s UK distribution business), Head of UK Retail Marketing for all of Fidelity’s retail business units, and most recently Head of UK Personal Investments.

As Head of Marketing for the DC and Workplace Savings Business, Rob is responsible for the communication and marketing programme for clients and members, as well as supporting Fidelity’s investment-only DC business covering both Fidelity fund and platform offerings.  His experience complements Fidelity’s ambitions to bring the best of what Fidelity offers to direct investors to the workplace such as its corporate ISA, alongside its occupational pension business. In his most recent role as Head of Fidelity’s direct to consumer business Rob was responsible for the customer offering in the UK and he also has experience of the IFA platform market gained in his previous role as Head of Sales and Marketing for Fidelity FundsNetwork.  

Previously he held marketing and client development positions with HSBC Asset Management and Save & Prosper Group (now part of JP Morgan Asset Management).

Born in 1972, Mr Fisher was educated at Kent College, Canterbury and the University of Warwick.

Jamie Jenkins

Head, Corporate Strategy & Proposition, Standard Life

Biography

Jenkins has worked in financial services for over 20 years, most of which he has spent in the Corporate Pensions area.

He currently heads up the Strategy & Propositions team for pensions, savings, flexible benefits and healthcare. He has worked extensively on the development of Standard Life’s employee wealth proposition.

Prior to his move to Marketing, he led the pensions operation, steering the area through Simplification and establishing the Corporate SIPP function, ultimately working with some of the largest pension clients in the UK.

Jenkins is a regular commentator on developments in the corporate market.

Ian Taylor

Chief Executive Officer, Transact

Biography

Ian Taylor is the Chief Executive of Transact and has been with the wrap service since its beginnings in 1999. Prior to that he spent seven years in asset management and five in the life industry - in a variety of roles mainly involving marketing, business start-up and and strategic planning.

Nick Dixon

Marketing Director, Skandia

Biography

After studying Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Oxford University, Nick joined Royal Dutch Shell in 1987. Roles included restructuring the UK filling station network and assessing gas investments in Russia and Nigeria.

In 1996 Nick gained an MBA from Columbia University, New York. He then joined strategy consultant Booz & Co where he worked until 2002, initially in New York. Clients included:- Monsanto, Exxon Mobil, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and ABB.

Nick has worked at Skandia since 2002, first as Strategy Director and as Marketing Director since 2007.

David Ferguson

Chief Executive, Nucleus Financial Group

Biography

Brought up in sunny Edinburgh, David's first foray into financial services was as a trainee actuary with Life Association of Scotland. Following stints with Ivory & Sime and Scottish Life International, seven years as co-director of financial marketing consultancy The Abacus and a realisation that the industry didn't work very well he set about creating Nucleus, the UK's first and only IFA-controlled wrap platform. Following funding in 2006, Nucleus has established itself as an emerging force in the wrap space and has hopefully made it's mark in terms of

encouraging greater transparency through a period in our industry's history when honesty and accountability have never been more essential. David still lives in Edinburgh where he enjoys dining in, dining out, live music and following the city's mighty Heart of Midlothian FC.

Hugo Thorman

Managing Director, Ascentric

Biography

Hugo is Managing Director of Investment Funds Direct Group Limited the provider of the Ascentric Wrap Platform and a 'white label' service to product providers and large distributors. In 2005 Hugo led a team of managers and IFAs which bought Fundsdirect and implemented a proprietary web based state of the art platform software. Fundsdirect/Ascentric is part of the Royal London Group. Formerly Hugo was Chairman and Chief Executive of James Hay and Marketing Director of Abbey for Intermediaries and before that Marketing Director of Blackhorse Financial Services. He also spent some time as a Consultant with Watson Wyatt. Hugo has a degree in Economics from Nottingham University and an MBA from London Business School.

Marlene Shalton

President, Institute of Financial Planning

Biography

Marlene is a Certified Financial PlannerCM Professional &, Fellow of the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP) and Chartered Financial Planner. She established her Financial Planning practice in 1991, aiming to provide a personal but professional Financial Planning Service and in 2007 sold the business to Bluefin. She continues as a Financial Planner and Wealth Manager with Bluefin and is involved in training, mentoring and trantionsing the advisers to Planners within the company. She only wants to work with those who are committed to achieving their lifetime goals and objectives

Marlene started her career as a Probation Officer and has 13 years experience in personal and counselling skills.

She is currently the President of the IFP. Marlene is passionate about Financial Planning and voices this regularly to the media. Recently she was awarded Best Financial Planner in the New Breed Adviser awards 2009 (supported by High Net Worth magazine) and in December 2008, Retirement Planner of the Year. In January 2009, with colleague Julie Lord, she also won the New Model Adviser award for Wales.

Nick Blake

Head of Retail, Vanguard Investments Europe

Biography

Nick Blake is Head of Sales for Vanguard Investments UK, Limited. Nick's 27 year career in the industry has covered many senior distribution management roles. He is responsible for the Vanguard UK sales team managing our Institutional and Retail client channels.

Ian Taylor

Chief Executive Officer, Transact

Biography

Ian Taylor is the Chief Executive of Transact and has been with the wrap service since its beginnings in 1999. Prior to that he spent seven years in asset management and five in the life industry - in a variety of roles mainly involving marketing, business start-up and and strategic planning.

David Ferguson

Chief Executive, Nucleus Financial Group

Biography

Brought up in sunny Edinburgh, David's first foray into financial services was as a trainee actuary with Life Association of Scotland. Following stints with Ivory & Sime and Scottish Life International, seven years as co-director of financial marketing consultancy The Abacus and a realisation that the industry didn't work very well he set about creating Nucleus, the UK's first and only IFA-controlled wrap platform. Following funding in 2006, Nucleus has established itself as an emerging force in the wrap space and has hopefully made it's mark in terms of

encouraging greater transparency through a period in our industry's history when honesty and accountability have never been more essential. David still lives in Edinburgh where he enjoys dining in, dining out, live music and following the city's mighty Heart of Midlothian FC.

Nick Dixon

Marketing Director, Skandia

Biography

After studying Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Oxford University, Nick joined Royal Dutch Shell in 1987. Roles included restructuring the UK filling station network and assessing gas investments in Russia and Nigeria.

In 1996 Nick gained an MBA from Columbia University, New York. He then joined strategy consultant Booz & Co where he worked until 2002, initially in New York. Clients included:- Monsanto, Exxon Mobil, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and ABB.

Nick has worked at Skandia since 2002, first as Strategy Director and as Marketing Director since 2007.

Andrew Milligan

Head of Global Strategy, Standard Life Investments

Biography

He joined Standard Life Investments in 2000 as Global Investment Strategist before being appointed Head of Global Strategy in 2001.

Prior to this, he worked for HM Treasury and Lloyds Bank as an Economic Adviser, and Smith New Court as International Economist. In 1994 he was appointed Chief Economist with New Japan Securities Europe followed by Morley Fund Management in 1996 where he took up the position of Director of Economic Research & Business Risk.

Steve Webb

Pensions Minister, Department for Work & Pensions

Biography

In 1997, Steve Webb became the Liberal Democrat MP for Northavon.  Boundary changes in May 2010 created a new constituency of Thornbury and Yate.  At the last election, Steve became the first MP for this new area, which includes most of his former Northavon constituency, and is where he lives with his wife and two children.

Steve was appointed Minister of State for Pensions in May 2010, in the new Coalition Government.  Prior to that, Steve was the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Work and Pensions (1999 to 2005), Health (2005), Environment, Energy, Food and Rural Affairs (2007), Energy and Climate Change (2008), before returning to Work and Pensions in 2009.  Steve also chaired the Liberal Democrat Manifesto Group in 2006.

Before being elected, Steve studied Philosophy, Politics & Economics at Hertford College, Oxford.  Between 1986 and 1995, Steve worked as an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies before being appointed Professor of Social Policy at Bath University.

Aside from his parliamentary duties, Steve is actively involved in the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship and cites his hobbies as information technology, music, and being an armchair supporter of West Bromwich Albion.

Dr Greg B Davies

MD, Head of Behavioural & Quantitative, Investment Philosophy, Barclays Wealth

Biography

Dr. Davies leads a global team of behavioural and quantitative finance specialists, and is responsible for the design and global implementation of Barclays' Investment Philosophy.

He is an Associate Fellow at Oxford University's Saïd Business School, and his first book, Behavioral Investment Management, was published in January. He has authored papers in multiple academic disciplines, and is a frequent media commentator on Behavioural Finance.

His background is in both academia and financial services. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Cape Town, an MPhil in Economics, and a PhD in Behavioural Decision Theory, both from Cambridge University.

His commercial background began in financial services consultancy Oliver, Wyman & Co., and thereafter, during his PhD, as a Director of Decision Technology, a consultancy specialising in the commercial application of behavioural and decision sciences.

Tim Jones

Chief Executive Officer, NEST Corporation

Biography

Tim has substantial experience in the financial sector, having previously held a variety of senior positions including Non-Executive Director of Capital One Bank (Europe), Chief Executive of Retail Banking at NatWest Bank and Chief Executive at Mondex, Purseus and Simpay.

In addition to his role at NEST, Tim is currently an independent director of Investment Technology Group Inc, a New York based institutional broker dealer, and is on the Board of Directors of the Rotman International Centre for Pension Management.

John Lawson

Head of Pensions Policy, Standard Life Group

Biography

John Lawson is one of the pension industry’s leading spokespeople. He provides incisive and informed comment to all sections of the media using the insight and expertise he has built up over more than 20 years. His current role also includes influencing UK, European and Asian governments on savings policy issues, both on behalf of Standard Life and as a representative of the UK insurance industry. John is a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society.

Kate Smith

Pensions Development Consultant, AEGON

Biography

Kate joined AEGON in August 2006 having worked for a number of pension organisations, including PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Mercers HR Consulting, and has over 20 years of experience in the pensions industry.

Kate is currently focusing on the changing pension environment and what this will look like in the run-up to and beyond 2012 following the implementation of Pensions Reform and other regulatory initiatives. Kate’s emphasis is lobbying for good outcomes for customers and ‘workable’ regulation for smaller employers.

Kate is a Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) and is the Treasurer of the PMI Scottish Regional Group. She is a member of an ABI committee and represents AEGON on the Defined Contribution sub-group of the Investment Governance Group.

Adrian Boulding

Pensions Strategy Director, Legal & General

Biography

Adrian Boulding is Legal & General’s Pensions Strategy Director with responsibility for analysing and understanding the implications of major legislative change for consumers of pension and savings products.

Currently he is engaged in the industry wide consultations on the Government’s proposed new system of automatic enrolment and mandatory employer pension contributions that will be launched in 2012. He is particularly interested in the impact on group schemes and how employers will react to get maximum value from their pension contributions.

Adrian is a widely quoted commentator on savings issues in the press and provides strategic advice to several industry trade bodies.

Outside of work, Adrian both makes and shoots the traditional long-bow and is a collector of classic Jaguar motor cars.

Stephen Gay

Director of Life, Savings and Protection, ABI

Biography

Steve joined the ABI in March 2012 as Director of Life, Savings and Protection.

Steve has thirty years' experience of the life and pensions market and intermediary distribution in particular. Most recently he was Director General of the Association of Independent Financial Advisers, where he conducted a far-reaching review of IFA representation at a time of regulatory challenge for the advisory community.

Steve career has primarily been spent working with major Life and Pensions providers. As Director of Distribution Development at Aviva UK Life, he launched the industry's first and largest financial adviser academy and led Aviva's work on the Retail Distribution Review, and was responsible for regulatory compliance across the company’s distribution channels. Previously Steve worked for Prudential, Standard Life and also with a wide range of other leading financial services companies during his time as a management consultant for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, and as an independent consultant.

Steve has worked in the Life and Pensions market since 1982, beginning as a life underwriter, and serving his distribution apprenticeship as a broker consultant with Standard Life in the City.

Philip Mowbray

Head of Product Risk, Barrie & Hibbert

Biography

Since joining Barrie & Hibbert as a quantitative analyst in 1998, Philip has worked on a wide range of projects both developing and applying Barrie & Hibbert's stochastic models and investment analytics capability. He has published a wide range of research articles in industry journals. As Head of Retail Products and Consultancy, Philip has had responsibility for strategy and product development in the retail financial services sector. Here he is focused on applying Barrie & Hibbert’s models and expertise to support retail product design and communications, including the integration of our models into a wide range of advice and financial planning tools.

Steve Groves

Chief Executive, Partnership

Biography

Most of Steve’s career has been spent working on financial solutions for people in retirement. He started at Norwich Union working on long-term care and equity release, before moving into the investment area. His interest in annuities and annuitant longevity led to a move to Stalwart (now part of LV=) where he worked on equity release, smoker annuities and the launch of Impaired Life pension and Long Term Care annuities before joining Britannic Retirement Solutions.

In early 2003, Steve took a role leading the actuarial team as part of Swiss Re’s Admin Re start up where he led the pricing on the acquisition of Windsor Life, Zurich Life and Virgin Money Life.

In March 2005 he joined the Pension Annuity Friendly Society, the first provider of impaired and Care annuities in the UK, as its Chief Finance Officer. Later that year the Society became the first friendly society in recent memory to demutualise and this formed Partnership. Steve took over as Managing Director in November 2006 and took the role of Chief Executive following a secondary buyout backed by Cinven in August 2008.

Steve is a founder member of the Institute of Actuaries working party on equity release and has been a Director of SHIP, the equity release trade body.