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Our Board
Our Board doesn’t answer to shareholders – because we don’t have any.
Instead, our Directors and executive team are constantly working in the best interests of you - our members and customers - so that we can deliver the best products and service possible.
Board diversity
The Group values and promotes diversity and inclusion. We recognise that having a range of backgrounds and experience in senior positions is the right thing to do and provides the Group with strategic advantage.
You can read our Board Diversity and Inclusion Policy (PDF) for more on our commitment and approach.
Kevin Parry OBE, Chairman
Committee membership: Disclosure Committee (Chair), Nominations and Governance Committee (Chair)
Appointed: 19 March 2019
Skills and experience: Kevin Parry is a chartered accountant and has deep financial services experience as an executive and non-executive director encompassing life insurance, banking and asset management. His former appointments include as a non-executive director and Audit Committee Chairman at Schroders plc, and subsequently as its Chief Financial Officer, Chief Executive of Management Consulting Group plc and a managing partner at KPMG. He has also served as Chairman of Intermediate Capital Group plc, Senior Independent Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee at Standard Life Aberdeen plc and non-executive director of Knight Frank LLP.
External appointments: He is currently the Chairman of Nationwide Building Society. He is also a non-executive director of Daily Mail and General Trust plc, Chairman of its Audit and Risk Committee and member of its Investment and Finance Committee. He is master of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a trustee of its associated charity. He was awarded an OBE in 2017 for services to supporting vulnerable children.
Barry O'Dwyer, Group Chief Executive Officer
Committee membership: Disclosure Committee
Appointed: 8 January 2020
Skills and experience: Barry O’Dwyer is an actuary with extensive financial services experience in the UK and Ireland. He began his career at Standard Life in 1988, when it was a mutual. In 2008, he moved to HBOS and shortly afterwards to Prudential UK & Europe, where he became Deputy Chief Executive Officer. He returned to Standard Life in 2013, where he became Chief Executive Officer of Standard Life’s platform, pensions and savings businesses. He joined the Board of Standard Life plc in 2017. Following Standard Life plc’s merger with Aberdeen Asset Management, he was the head of Standard Life Aberdeen’s UK business, before joining Royal London in 2019.
External appointments: He is currently a member of the board of the Association of British Insurers and a non-executive director of Coop Exchange Limited.
Daniel Cazeaux, Group Chief Financial Officer
Committee membership: Disclosure Committee, Investment Committee, With-Profits Committee
Appointed: 22 September 2020
Skills and experience: Daniel Cazeaux is a chartered accountant. From 2008 to 2020, he was a partner at KPMG in the UK, where he led global client teams delivering audit services to UK and global insurance companies, as well as advising on finance change programmes and transactions. In his time at KPMG he also performed executive secondment roles into finance functions of large UK insurers, which enabled him to develop deep-rooted specialist and commercial expertise in the financial services industry. He currently serves as a director of Royal London Insurance Designated Activity Company, Royal London’s business in Ireland.
External appointments: None.
Lynne Peacock, Independent Non-Executive Director and Deputy Chair
Committee membership: Nominations and Governance Committee, Remuneration Committee
Appointed: 1 December 2023
Skills and experience: Lynne Peacock has extensive senior management experience, much of which she obtained within the financial services industry, and expertise in chairing and serving on remuneration committees. She has previously served as a non-executive director of Nationwide Building Society, Jardine Lloyd Thompson plc, Standard Life Aberdeen plc and Scottish Water. During her executive career, she was the UK Chief Executive Officer of National Australia Bank, and prior to that, she was the Chief Executive Officer of Woolwich plc on completion of its takeover by the Barclays Group in 2000.
External appointments: She is currently the Senior Independent Director on the boards of Serco plc and TSB Banking Group plc, a board member at International Distributions Services plc (formerly Royal Mail plc), and chairs the charity Learning Disability Network London Limited.
Tim Tookey, Independent Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director
Committee membership: Audit Committee (Chair), Nominations and Governance Committee, Risk and Capital Committee
Appointed: 6 April 2020
Skills and experience: Tim Tookey is a chartered accountant with strong experience in major retail financial services organisations and has significant board experience. He was Chief Financial Officer of Quilter plc (previously known as Old Mutual Wealth Management Limited). Other former appointments include his role as Chief Financial Officer at Friends Life Group Limited, a position he held from 2012 until the sale of the business to Aviva in April 2015, Group Finance Director of Lloyds Banking Group (2008-2012) having been appointed Deputy Group Finance Director when he joined the bank in 2006, Finance Director of Prudential plc’s UK business and Group Finance Director at Heath Lambert Group. He also served as a non-executive director of Nationwide Building Society, including as Chair of its Risk Committee, until his retirement from the board in July 2022.
He was appointed as our Senior Independent Director on 1 January 2024.
External appointments: None.
Kal Atwal, Independent Non-Executive Director
Committee membership: Nominations and Governance Committee, Investment Committee
Appointed: 17 January 2020
Skills and experience: Kal Atwal is a strategy leader with international experience in start-up, scale-up, fintech and digital businesses. She began her career at Ernst & Young on placement in Madrid, after which she held a number of operational and strategic roles with Southern Derbyshire Chamber and Northcliffe Media Ltd. She joined BGL Group when the company took over Bennetts, the motorcycle insurance business, where she held the position of managing director. She then became the founding managing director of comparethemarket.com, a division of BGL. Until late 2023, she was also a non-executive director of WH Smith plc, Admiral Financial Services Limited and SimplyCook Limited.
External appointments: She is currently a non-executive director at Whitbread plc, where she is a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committees, and OSB Group plc, where she is a member of the Group Remuneration and People Committee. She is also the Chair of FunkyPigeon.com, a subsidiary of WH Smith plc.
The Rt. Hon. Baroness Ruth Davidson PC, Independent Non-Executive Director
Committee membership: Nominations and Governance Committee, Remuneration Committee
Appointed: 8 June 2021
Skills and experience: Baroness Davidson has extensive experience in the political frontline, leading the Conservative Party in Scotland and playing key roles in the referendum campaigns surrounding Brexit and Scottish independence. A regular attendee at political cabinet, she was a key adviser to two Prime Ministers on constitutional issues. She was appointed to the Privy Council in 2016 and joined the House of Lords in 2021 as Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links. She is committed to championing better environmental, social and governance practices and has worked extensively in promoting diversity across a wide range of organisations. Before entering politics, she worked in journalism, first in newspapers and then in radio and television, including with the BBC as a presenter of news and current affairs. Until early 2023, she was a trustee of the HALO Trust.
External appointments: She is currently a board member of The John Smith Centre for Public Service at the University of Glasgow, and non-executive director of Scottish Rugby Limited and the Scottish food group W.A. Baxter & Sons.
Jane Guyett CBE, Independent Non-Executive Director
Committee membership: Remuneration Committee (Chair), Nominations and Governance Committee, Risk and Capital Committee
Appointed: 4 August 2021
Skills and experience: Jane Guyett has significant knowledge and experience of financial markets and corporate governance in the UK and globally. She has held senior roles with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London and New York, which included serving as Chief Operating Officer (EMEA and Asia) of the Global Markets Group and sitting on the board of Bank of America Securities. She was a non-executive director of UK Financial Investments Limited until 2018, advising the UK government on its shareholdings in FTSE financial services companies.
External appointments: She is currently an independent non-executive director of LCH Limited and Banque Centrale de Compensation SA, Paris, Chair of Connect Plus (M25) Limited, and a member of BDO LLP’s Public Interest Committee and Business Oversight Committee. She was awarded a CBE in 2021 for services to the UK economy.
Eithne McManus, Independent Non-Executive Director
Committee membership: With-Profits Committee (Chair), Audit Committee, Nominations and Governance Committee, Risk and Capital Committee
Appointed: 1 April 2023
Skills and experience: Eithne McManus is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, a chartered enterprise risk actuary, and an experienced non-executive director in the life and pensions industry. During her executive career, she was Chief Executive of City of Westminster Assurance, having previously acted as Chief Financial Officer and as UK actuary. She has since held non-executive directorships at a number of organisations such as Countrywide Assured, LGPS Central and SCOR Ireland. She has a strong affinity with the mutuals sector, having served as a non-executive director of UIA Insurance. She has a deep understanding of With-Profits and chairs the With-Profits Committee at Countrywide Assured and was previously an independent member of the With-Profits Committee at the Prudential Assurance Company.
External appointments: She is currently a non-executive director at Countrywide Assured plc, SCOR Ireland DAC and Alban Actuarial Solutions Ltd.
Pars Purewal, Independent Non-Executive Director
Committee membership: Nominations and Governance Committee
Appointed: 8 February 2023
Skills and experience: Pars Purewal is the Chair of Royal London Asset Management Holdings Limited and Royal London Asset Management Limited. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He retired as a senior partner of PwC after a career of over 37 years, including 10 years as PwC’s UK Asset Management leader. He has deep experience of asset management gained through providing audit and advisory services at PwC. Following his retirement from PwC, he served on the boards of directors of Brewin Dolphin Holdings plc and Federated Hermes Limited until September 2022.
External appointments: He is currently an independent non-executive director of The Law Debenture Corporation plc, Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee and a member of its Nomination and Remuneration Committees. He is also an independent non-executive director of Finsbury Growth & Income plc and a member of its Audit and Risk, Nomination and Remuneration Committees. He also chairs the board of trustees of Beyond Food Foundation.
Mark Rennison, Independent Non-Executive Director
Committee membership: Risk and Capital Committee (Chair), Audit Committee, Nominations and Governance Committee
Appointed: 25 September 2020
Skills and experience: Mark Rennison is a chartered accountant with significant experience of working both with and for large financial services organisations. He was Chief Financial Officer at Nationwide Building Society for 12 years and, prior to that, worked at PwC for more than 25 years, including 12 years as a partner in its banking practice. Until 2023, he served as a non-executive director of both TSB Bank plc and TSB Banking Group plc. He is a former member of the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority Practitioner Panel and a former Chair of UK Finance’s Financial Risk and Policy Committee.
External appointments: He is currently a non-executive director at Homes England, where he is Chairman of the Investment Committee and Home Ownership Committee as well as serving on the Audit and Risk Committee and the Change Committee. He is also a non-executive director of NatWest Holdings Limited.
Nicky Richards, Independent Non-Executive Director
Committee membership: Investment Committee (Chair), Nominations and Governance Committee
Appointed: 5 October 2023
Skills and experience: Nicky Richards has extensive experience of business and investment leadership from her executive and non-executive careers. She is the former Global Head of Equities and member of the Group Management Committee at Schroders plc, where she spent a total of 20 years of her executive career. She was also Group Chief Investment Officer at Fidelity International for four years, and Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of MLC Asset Management for two years. Her non-executive experience includes being a non-executive director of RWC Partners Limited. While affiliated to Schroders, she chaired the RWC Partners (Redwheel) board between 2016 and 2020, and remains on the board in a non-executive capacity after stepping down as Chair.
External appointments: She is currently a non-executive director at RWC Partners Limited, and a non-executive member of the Investment Sub-Committee of King’s College London.