The ABI has appointed Stephen Gay as its new Director of Life, Savings and Protection. Mr Gay will lead the team responsible for the ABI’s work to encourage people to save and protect themselves as well as driving forward the industry’s support for the new pensions reform agenda.

Stephen Gay has over twenty five years’ experience working in the life and pensions market. He is currently Director General at the Association for Independent Financial Advisors and as part of this role is also Director General of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries and the Association of Finance Brokers. Prior to this he was Director of Distribution Development at Aviva UK Life.

Otto Thoresen, Director General of the ABI said:

“We are delighted that someone of Stephen’s undoubted calibre will be joining us to drive forward the ABI’s work on pensions, saving and protection. This is an absolutely crucial time for the industry and we have a unique opportunity to change the UK’s low saving habit through the introduction of automatic enrolment. If we get this right we could change the way people save and protect their futures for good and I know Stephen is absolutely focused on helping the industry rise to this challenge.”

Stephen Gay, Director of Life, Savings and Protection ABI said:

“I am very pleased to be joining the ABI to lead what I know is a very committed, good team. I hope that my experience and expertise will bring some new ideas to help us move forward our work with our members to help people save – a challenge which is only going to increase in importance over the coming years.”

Notes

Steve Gay joined AIFA in December 2010. In his role, he is also the Director General of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) and the Association of Finance Brokers (AFB).Stephen has more than twenty five years' experience of the life and pensions market and intermediary distribution. Most recently Director of Distribution Development at Aviva UK Life, Stephen developed and launched the industry's first and largest financial adviser academy. He also led Aviva's work around the Retail Distribution Review, regularly engaging with the regulator and policy makers. Stephen previously worked for Prudential, Standard Life and a wide range of leading financial services companies during his time as a management consultant. Stephen has worked in the Life and Pensions market since 1982 and served his apprenticeship as a broker consultant with Standard Life. In the 1990's, he was with Prudential working on account management strategy and heading their Networks distribution channel.

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2.     The ABI is the voice of the UK’s insurance, investment and long-term savings industry. It has over 300 members, which together account for around 90% of premiums in the UK domestic market.

The ABI’s role is to:

-       Be the voice of the UK insurance industry, leading debate and speaking up for insurers.

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The UK insurance industry is the third largest in the world and the largest in Europe. It is a vital part of the UK economy, managing investments amounting to 26% of the UK’s net worth and contributing the fourth highest corporation tax of any sector. Employing over 290,000 people in the UK alone, the insurance industry is also one of this country’s major exporters, with 28% of its net premium income coming from overseas business.

Insurance and businesses protect themselves against the everyday risks they face, enabling people to own their own homes, travel overseas, provide for a financially secure future and run businesses. Insurance underpins a healthy and prosperous society, enabling businesses and individuals to thrive, safe in the knowledge that problems can be handled and risks carefully managed. Every day, our members pay out £147 million in benefits to pensioners and long-term savers as well as £60 million in general insurance claims.

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