Standard Life appoints finance chief from Lloyd's of London
LONDON (Reuters) - Financial services group Standard Life has recruited Luke Savage from Lloyd's of London as its new chief financial officer, filling the space left by Jackie Hunt a year ago.
Savage, 52, will join the Edinburgh-based company on August 18 and will earn up to 1.5 million pounds a year in pay and bonuses in addition to a long-term incentive plan, Standard Life said on Friday.
"He is joining the group at a time of significant opportunity with unprecedented change across the markets in which we operate," Chief Executive David Nish said.
The appointment follows a year-long search for a new finance director that started when Jackie Hunt left to run rival Prudential Plc's UK and European business.
Savage leaves the Lloyd's market after 10 years, having joined in 2004 from Deutsche Bank.
He faces a busy schedule early on in his new post, with a referendum on Scottish independence due in September threatening to leave the group on the opposite side of an international border from the bulk of its customers in England.
The UK pensions market is also undergoing significant upheaval with a new system of automatic enrolment into company schemes for employees creating vast pools of assets currently being chased by Standard Life and its rivals.
"We view this as an excellent appointment for Standard Life and will come as a real relief to its shareholders," said insurance sector specialist Eamonn Flanagan at Shore Capital Stockbrokers.
Standard Life shares were trading 0.2 percent higher on Friday morning, outperforming their FTSE 100 benchmark index which was 0.2 percent down.
(Reporting by Chris Vellacott; Editing by Pravin Char)
