Joseph Pinto will become chief executive of M&G Asset Management, effective from March 2023 and subject to regulatory approval.

He will join from Natixis Investment Managers, where he has served as head of distribution and investment solutions for Emea, Apac and LatAm and global chief operating officer.

Pinto will succeed Jonathan Daniels who will retire after 21 years with the business.

Natixis Investment Managers

Fabrice Chemouny has been appointed head of international distribution to replace Pinto.

He was previously head of Asia Pacific at Natixis Investment Managers.

Christophe Lanne, chief administration officer for Asset & Wealth Management, will oversee post-sales support activities for international distribution, as well as Natixis IM solutions activities, in addition to his existing responsibilities for global operations and technology, human resources and corporate social responsibility strategy.

IFGL

The financial services giant has recruited Greg Watson for the newly created role of chief technology officer.

He previously held a similar position at Sainsbury’s Bank in Edinburgh.

Metlife UK

The insurance provider hired Justin Harper as head of propositions for the UK.

He was most recently at LV= where he led the protection proposition development team.

Eastspring Investments

The Prudential subsidiary has named Faizal Gaffoor as deputy regional chief executive and head of products and partnerships.

He joined the business in December 2022 in Singapore from UOB Asset Management where he served as managing director and group chief marketing officer.

Wealth Professional

The UK-based financial advice and consultancy firm has appointed David Webster as director.

He will help the company enhance the customer experience and further grow the business.

Webster has provided consultancy services to several financial advice firms and, prior to that, held senior positions at IFA companies.

FNZ

The global platform has hired Renata Mrazova as group chief people officer, based in Prague.

She most recently held a similar role at Home Credit International.

Harding Loevner

The US-based asset manager has recruited Richard Clarke-Wilson as business development lead for the UK and Ireland.

He is the first member of the business development team to be based outside of the US and will be tasked with building relationships with intermediaries in the region.

Clarke-Wilson was previously at Majedie Asset Management where he spent more than six years as client director.

LGIM

The investment manager has strengthened its presence in Switzerland with a senior hire.

Patrick Lutz becomes head of wholesale distribution in the country, based in the newly opened Zurich office.

He spent the last 14 years at Franklin Templeton where most recently he was country head for Switzerland.

The Pearl Family Office

The London-based family office has hired Jamila Long as relationship director.

She has held several senior roles at Standard Chartered Bank, Barclays Private Banking and more recently at Chateau Fiduciaire.

Irwin Mitchell

The law firm has made a senior hire in its Birmingham office.

Ian Bond has joined the private client team as a partner from Thursfields where he was head of Wills and estates.

Irwin Mitchell added that it intends to make another partner and associate in March to expand the practice in the Midlands.

The life insurer has unveiled a suite of tools, educational resources and product offerings to improve the experience for advisers, to give them more time to focus on serving clients and growing their businesses.

This includes:

• A digital platform that enables real-time collaboration, flexibility, and complete self-service for policy administration;
• A series of four webinars for advisers designed to highlight the value of life insurance for advisers and their clients. Topics include the non-financial benefits life insurance provides, how increased uptake of life insurance can encourage economic growth, and the important role that life insurers, and the broader financial services industry, play in enabling improved mental health and wellbeing outcomes for Australians; and
• Key product changes that comply with regulatory guidelines to enhance the sustainability of income protection insurance.

Meray El-Khoury, chief insurance officer at MetLife Australia, said: “The financial advice industry has undergone an incredibly tumultuous couple of years, facing significant regulatory change, public scrutiny and evolving customer expectations – all on top of a global pandemic.

“We want to create certainty for both advisers and their clients in an uncertain time. This is the thread that connects all our recent updates and innovations, from our price guarantee, to the launch of our webinar series and our new digital platform. We are focused on providing advisers with easy access to the knowledge and assets they need to thrive now and into the future.”

The insurance firm surveyed 2,000 Brits and found just 27% were prompted by covid to seek financial advice.

The study revealed that the reasons for not seeking financial advice differ greatly, as 38% don’t intend to, 5% can’t afford to, 9% haven’t decided yet and 13% haven’t yet but might have to in the future.

Help

The insurer also asked respondents who they turn to for financial advice.

While nearly a quarter (24%) would turn to the bank, over a fifth (22%) would go to a financial adviser and 21% a mortgage adviser/broker.

The highest percentage of all, nearly a third (29%) of people admit to turning to financial experts such as Martin Lewis for their financial needs.

Some 21% would go online and look at news sources for their advice, but just 4% would listen to social media influencers.

Those around us also have an important role to play as 17% would go to their family and/or friends for financial advice, 6% look to their work colleagues for guidance, while just 3% would turn to their children or grandchildren.

Seek advice

Rich Horner, head of individual protection at MetLife, said: “The pandemic has put many people’s finances in an unexpectedly difficult position and, while some have been able to save more in lockdown, many others have been faced with job losses, falls in income and hardship.

“Financial advice can make a big difference to how people think about their futures. It can help them better understand how to protect what is most important to them via valuable insurance policies, as well as helping to put plans in place for the future by developing a savings and investment strategy.

“But there are still a number of factors that are standing in people’s way. While putting off making that first appointment is not new, it can be detrimental to people’s finances for the long term.

“The sooner you seek financial advice the earlier you can start putting a plan together for your future goals and ensure you have the right protections in place should the unexpected happen. If the last year has taught us anything, it is just how unpredictable life can be.”

Pension updates

In similar news, Canada Life surveyed over 2,000 UK adults found that over the past 12 months two-thirds (67%) have not logged into their pension online, with this figure rising to 78% for those aged over 55.

People are still not engaging with their pension, despite many saying they have paid closer attention to their finances since the global pandemic began.

In addition, 56% of adults say they haven’t received a pension statement that they read.

Those who have not logged into their pension in the past 12 months were not interested in doing this (16%), didn’t know how to access their pension online (15%), while 9% found it too complicated.

Since the start of the pandemic, 62% adults have reviewed or made changes to their finances. Leading the way are 18-34-year-olds with 72% reviewing or taking action.

‘Alarming fact’

Andrew Tully, technical director at Canada Life, said: “The uncertainty caused by the pandemic has prompted people to pay more attention to their finances, but a major challenge still remains with pension engagement.

“Despite auto-enrolment changing the face of the pension ecosystem, not enough people are reviewing their pension and taking the relevant action to ensure they are in the best possible position when approaching or in retirement.

“This is amplified by the alarming fact that a significant number of people aren’t aware that they can log into their pension online and get at minimum, a basic sense of how much they have saved.

“It is clear that as an industry, we need to do more to make financial management as easy as possible. Many people find the process of reviewing a pension and taking action a daunting prospect; we encourage them to engage with an expert financial adviser to make this feel less of a burden.”

The partnership will give the bank’s clients access to a range of customisable protection and savings solutions, covering life, accident and health insurance.

Customers will be able to choose between a range of term plans that provide high-protection covers along with options to insure against critical illness and disability, as well as purchase whole-of-life protection plans that allow plan contributions to be made for a limited number of years and provide lifelong coverage.

Suvo Sarkar, senior executive vice president and head of retail banking and wealth management at Emirates NBD, said: “As people become increasingly aware of the importance of financial preparedness, we are pleased to provide our customers, in collaboration with MetLife, easy access to best-in-class insurance products and solutions that are integral to their long-term financial planning.

“Being a leading bank offering customer focused financial solutions, we remain committed to helping our customers meet their protection and savings needs in the best way.”

Dimitris Mazarakis, general manager of MetLife Gulf, added: “These are demanding times for our customers as they confront unprecedented challenges brought by the current situation. Our shared commitment to putting the customer first through driving customer-centricity, innovation, and digital transformation is what sets us apart in the market.”

If successful, the M&A deal would involve Zurich’s subsidiary Farmers Group in conjunction with the Farmers Exchanges.

The insurer, however, clarified that it has no ownership interest in the Farmers Exchanges. Farmers Group provides “certain non-claims services and ancillary services to the Farmers Exchanges as its attorney-in-fact and receives fees for its services”, it added.

Negotiations are still ongoing, and Zurich did not disclose any terms of the M&A deal, as “there can be no assurance that a transaction will take place”.

Zurich did not announce its future plans regarding the insurance market in the US.