John Pollock

Group Executive Director, Legal & General

Biography

John joined L&G in 1980 as a trainee computer programmer after graduating with a BSc in Geography/Geology from Strathclyde University in Glasgow. John spent 10 years in IT before moving to the front-line business in 1990.

After 2 years running the Individual Pensions area during the early boom, he was appointed to run the customer service operations for L&G Life & Pensions in Hove. In this role in pursuit of Total Quality, John drove significant business process re-engineering, and IT resulting in being awarded the Institute of Administrative Management award for TQ Management.

In 1994 John was appointed to develop a new employed sales channel, integrating 3 disparate channels and establishing the L&G Mortgage Club which has gone on to account for over 8% of UK mortgage lending in 2010.

In 1996, John moved to Sydney, Australia as Managing Director L&G Asia, exploring emerging market opportunities, building businesses in Indonesia and Egypt before returning to the UK in 1999 as Managing Director, L&G Healthcare and Product Director for UK Protection and GI.

In 2000 after a corporate reorganisation John was appointed to the UK board with responsibility for the L&G Service Operations with a team of 3,500 staff across 3 primary locations and in 2003 was appointed to the Group board as Group Executive Director, Product & Corporate. In 2006, John took board responsibility for the Insurance businesses of L&G, incorporating Individual and Group protection, General Insurance, L&G Network and Annuities including both individual and bulk buy-outs.

John is a member of the Life Insurance Committee of the ABI and Chairs the Distribution & Regulation Committee of the ABI and is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

John is married with 2 daughters, is the ex-captain of L&G Rugby, represented L&G at tennis, table tennis and bridge, is a trust member of the Children's Trust Charity and is President of Legal & General's Sports and Social Association.

Steve Payne

Managing Director of Protection, Friends Life

Biography

Steve joined Bupa in 2004 to head up the Individual Protection business within BHA. In November, 2008, Steve became responsible for the Group Risk business of BHA as well. 

Then in June 2011 after a merger with Friends Life in October 2010, Steve became the Managing Director, UK Protection within Friends Life.  Responsible for developing and implementing the strategy for Individual and Group Protection business across all channels and distributors / business partners in the UK.

Steve is a Qualified Actuary with a strong Risk product background gained through Reassurance experience. Steve is also a member of the ABI Protection strategy Committee, and is on the Board of ILAG and in 2011 became Chairman.

Steve has 16 years of Reassurance experience with companies that are now trading as SCOR Global Life, and Hannover Re. Steve was Deputy CEO of Revios (now SCOR) prior to joining Bupa in 2004. Steve's prior roles included heading up the Client Management, Pricing and Marketing areas.

Tom Baigrie

Chief Executive Officer, Baigrie LifeSearch plc.

Biography

Tom Baigrie is the CEO of Baigrie Davies LifeSearch plc. The group has 2 consumer facing subsiduaries and brands; a new model financial planner in Baigrie Davies and Co Ltd and LifeSearch Ltd which leads the UKmarket in protection advice.

Baigrie Davies has an intense focus on high quality technical advice and focuses its investment management on fulfilling the clients life-plan. LifeSearch has a national customer base, including that of ASDA and Swinton, buying protection through the lowest cost method of distributing properly advised protection products. It protects around 25,000 families a year with around 50,000 policies.

Tom believes leading distributors should shape their market as well as their own businesses and has long campaigned to make protection once more seen by all as a vital consumer safeguard as well as on reglatory matters. The ICOB rules, the Competition Commission rulings on PPI and the RDR all reflect his efforts in places and he is on the ABI's Consumer Engagement team.

Tom and his businesses have won over 50 industry awards and commendations since 2004, but he is most proud of the fact that both are properly profitable in a sector where that is notoriously rare.

Steve Devine

Chairman, Protect

Biography

Chair of Protect - an association of companies and individuals that operate in the UK protection markets. www.protect-aci.org.uk Marketing Director of Compass Underwriting Limited, a Managing General Agent that designs bespoke products in the Accident, Health & Protection markets www.compassuw.co.uk Owner of Devine Connections, a PR, Communications, and business development consultancy www.devineconnections.co.uk.

Steve in his former role of Head of Group Communications for a leading Creditor insurer, has been at the forefront of all the regulatory attention and action directed at the "PPI" market. He was a member of the ABI Creditor committee, The Finance & Leasing Association General Insurance Group, the Sustainable Home Ownership Steering Group and various other working parties.

He continues to stay close to market and regulatory developments in his self employed status via Protect and his other connections.

Steve lives in a village near Bedford, he is married with 4 grown up children, and two grandchildren. Outside work, he plays golf, jogs, pilates, struggles with an allotment, and avoids shopping and DIY.

Peter Chadborn

Director, Plan Money

Biography

Age 42, Married with 2 children, Lives in Colchester

1988 to 1998

Began career in Financial Services as an Area Representative with Refuge Assurance.

1998 to 2002

Joined Barclays Financial Management to experience 'Bank Assurance'.

2002 to present

Principal and co-founder of Chadborn Baker & Kearle.

December 2005

Chadborn Baker & Kearle was re-structured to create 3 autonomous companies; CBK Colchester, CBK Nottingham and CBK Swansea. The idea was to adapt to a rapidly changing industry by giving autonomy to each office thus enabling each team to evolve in its own unique way.

December 2010

In 2010 CBK Colchester was rebranded to Plan Money to reflect the company's modern approach to financial planning and its ability to adapt to its client's changing financial planning requirements.

Peter has won numerous industry awards for his work. Most recently he was the winner of Health Insurance's Best Protection Intermediary in 2010 award.

Notes

Peter is an advocate of advising based upon a products features and benefits and not on cost. He believes that clients typically require an ongoing relationship as opposed to a transactional service.

While his job is first and foremost as an IFA, he also provides a consultancy service and is a regular industry commentator on IFA and consumer perspectives.

"There are too few working IFAs who are prepared to give up their time to comment on industry issues. It is for this reason why I make myself available for comment, attend working events, speak at industry events, write features and provide a consultancy service. Views and opinions can readily be obtained from re-insurers, life offices and large IFA firms but rarely can a balanced, consumer focused view be obtained from a typical IFA."

John Ritchie

Chief Executive Officer, Ellipse

Biography

John Ritchie, founding CEO of Ellipse, is a group risk veteran with over 25 years experience gained at Swiss Life, St James' Place and – principally – Munich Re, whose group risk division he headed before launching Ellipse.

He is a strong believer in the transformative effect of technology on the group risk benefits industry and the urgent need to improve service and efficiency standards.

Out of the office, he is a 14-handicap golfer – but virtually scratch at growing veg.

John Ritchie

Chief Executive Officer, Ellipse

Biography

John Ritchie, founding CEO of Ellipse, is a group risk veteran with over 25 years experience gained at Swiss Life, St James' Place and – principally – Munich Re, whose group risk division he headed before launching Ellipse.

He is a strong believer in the transformative effect of technology on the group risk benefits industry and the urgent need to improve service and efficiency standards.

Out of the office, he is a 14-handicap golfer – but virtually scratch at growing veg.

Mark Fiander

Director of Strategy, Money Advice Service

Biography

Mark Fiander is the Strategy and Innovation Director at the Money Advice Service.

Mark started his career at Unilever working across Sales, Marketing and Strategy before taking on new channel development and responsibility for online.

Wanting to have more direct relationships with customers Mark moved to the Royal Bank of Scotland where, overseeing Customer and Marketing Operations he drove the shift from product to customer centricity.

Looking to make a positive impact on peoples' lives Mark moved to Bupa before being enticed away by the opportunity to work across a broader spectrum of the population with the Money Advice Service. Mark is responsible for research, proposition and product development at the Money Advice Service.

Marco Forato

Chief Marketing Officer, Unum

Biography

Marco provides strategic direction and oversight to drive and support Unum's market development and growth objectives, working within the business and with distribution partners to raise awareness of the need for financial protection amongst UK workers, and to provide employee benefits solutions for employers.

Marco previously held a senior role at Unum US and, prior to that, worked in strategic brand and marketing development for global organizations with roles in WPP, London and IPG in the USA. His expertise also includes management consultancy, with roles at Booz Allen & Hamilton in Brazil and Mitchell Madison Group in New York.

Marco holds an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from E.E. Mauá in São Paulo, Brazil.

Lucian Camp

Principal, Lucian Camp Consulting

Biography

Lucian has worked on the creative side of brand, marketing and advertising agencies for over 30 years, initially as a copywriter and subsequently as a creative director and agency chairman. For well over half that time he has specialised in the financial services market. Recently, he has begun a second and parallel life as a one-man consultancy working in the same area.

Nick Kirwan

Assistant Director, Health & Protection, ABI

Biography

Nick Kirwan is Assistant Director, Health and Protection at ABI. His career covers 28 years in financial services. Most recently, Nick spent three years as Protection Market Director with Scottish Widows, and immediately before that, ten years in a senior role encompassing the various companies in the Abbey Group. He has extensive experience in operations, marketing, product development and sales covering a wide variety of financial services products.

Nick is known for his passion about the insurance market due to the very positive effect it can have on people's lives when they face difficult circumstances – when someone loses their job, faces a serious illness or on the death of a breadwinner. Nick was very proud to be named the Health Insurance Personality of the Year Award for 2007 for his work in promoting the industry.

Marco Forato

Chief Marketing Officer, Unum

Biography

Marco provides strategic direction and oversight to drive and support Unum's market development and growth objectives, working within the business and with distribution partners to raise awareness of the need for financial protection amongst UK workers, and to provide employee benefits solutions for employers.

Marco previously held a senior role at Unum US and, prior to that, worked in strategic brand and marketing development for global organizations with roles in WPP, London and IPG in the USA. His expertise also includes management consultancy, with roles at Booz Allen & Hamilton in Brazil and Mitchell Madison Group in New York.

Marco holds an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from E.E. Mauá in São Paulo, Brazil.

Tom Baigrie

Chief Executive Officer, Baigrie LifeSearch plc.

Biography

Tom Baigrie is the CEO of Baigrie Davies LifeSearch plc. The group has 2 consumer facing subsiduaries and brands; a new model financial planner in Baigrie Davies and Co Ltd and LifeSearch Ltd which leads the UKmarket in protection advice.

Baigrie Davies has an intense focus on high quality technical advice and focuses its investment management on fulfilling the clients life-plan. LifeSearch has a national customer base, including that of ASDA and Swinton, buying protection through the lowest cost method of distributing properly advised protection products. It protects around 25,000 families a year with around 50,000 policies.

Tom believes leading distributors should shape their market as well as their own businesses and has long campaigned to make protection once more seen by all as a vital consumer safeguard as well as on reglatory matters. The ICOB rules, the Competition Commission rulings on PPI and the RDR all reflect his efforts in places and he is on the ABI's Consumer Engagement team.

Tom and his businesses have won over 50 industry awards and commendations since 2004, but he is most proud of the fact that both are properly profitable in a sector where that is notoriously rare.

Tamar Kasriel

Managing Director, Futureal

Biography

Listed by Wired Magazine among the world’s most influential futurists, Tamar Kasriel uses her logical and creative approach to understanding future consumer demand to help a wide range of companies and organisations, from Coca Cola to De Beers.

In her work, Tamar draws upon her experience at The Guardian’s New Media Lab, ten years at the Henley Centre where she was a Director, and of living and working in Japan. In 2007 she established a specialist consultancy, Futureal (www.futureal.net). Futureal brings together diverse approaches to the analysis of consumer behaviour and demand, including proprietary research on consumer spending, to help companies plan and prepare for their future. Being ready for the future is not just a question of prediction, but of understanding why something happens, and therefore how it is likely to evolve.

Tamar is a frequent commentator in the press, from the BBC to Business Week to the Financial Times.

Mark Jones

Head of Protection, LV=

Biography

Mark has been in the insurance industry for over 20 years. His career started at Abbey Life, the direct sales operation, where he qualified as an actuary. He then moved to Friends Provident where he became head of protection gaining experience of the IFA and mortgage market, before moving to Bournemouth based LV= at the end of 2009. Mark is a protection specialist with a passion for increasing the market, rather than just competing for those consumers who currently recognise their need for protection.