JOHN CHARLES FINAN Career Biography Leadership: Chairman and CEO In a long and distinguished career, John Finan has been entrusted with the leadership of a number of important companies at strategic turning points. John has a wealth of experience in the private sector. He completed a decade in charge of Winterthur Life UK, formerly the UK life and pensions arm of the Credit Suisse Group (now owned by AXA). When he stepped down as Chairman and Chief Executive in August 2001 the company had posted its highest ever profits, based both on rising sales and falling costs. Funds under management rose from 300 million to more than 7 billion and sales grew 1000 per cent in a decade. Based on the Association of British Insurers' figures, Winterthur was growing in his final year four times faster than the UK life and pensions market as a whole. Previously, as Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman of NEL Britannia (part of the Britannia Arrow Group, now Invesco), John carried out the downsizing of NEL and negotiated the sale of the group permanent health business to UNUM, with a major enhanced profit, and the life and pensions closed book of business to Century Life. As a Director of Pearl and General Manager, UK Home Service, for Pearl Assurance, he managed 7,500 employees at the core of the company's business. John is Managing Director of Finan Consulting and his portfolio includes companies in various industry sectors who call on his vast experience in mentoring, strategic planning, marketing, turnaround management, deal-making and fundraising. John is currently working on a variety of major projects which range from Financial Services to Environmental/Waste (overseas). He is Chairman of Ecco Synergy UK Limited, whose main objective is to develop sustainable projects (waste to energy) through the CDM programs across sub-sahara Africa. He is Executive Chairman of Waste Evolution UK Limited, whose objectives are to introduce long-term capacity-building initiatives catering for the conversion of Municipal Solid Waste to Energy programmes in the Balkans, Argentina and elsewhere worldwide.
John is Founder-Director of Moving Talking Stories Limited, an innovative new publishing house producing books - especially memoirs and biographies - on film rather than on paper. He was Chairman of Frontline Energy and Environmental and Frontline Energy Environmental Limited (2009 2013), an established UK and Dublin-based cleantech company operating in the environmental infrastructure space that has been trading since August 2007. Frontline provided energy-efficient infrastructure and facilities management services to all sections of Irish and UK businesses He has worked closely with the Irish government through Enterprise Ireland (a government agency responsible for the development of Irish industry), mentoring young Irish companies either as a board director or as a consultant in addition to running business workshops. He is also a member of their International Mentoring Programme and, as part of their Business Acceleration Programme. John has been involved with Ashoka Ireland since 2009 as an experienced business and social entrepreneur leader. He has been selected for inclusion in Who's Who in the City 2013. The directory is the leading reference source of key City personalities and the companies that employ them. Previous directorships include: Chairman, Frontline Energy and Environmental (Dublin) and Chairman of Frontline Energy and Environmental (UK), Chairman, 3Q Software Solutions Limited, Non-executive Director of Exoftware, Agile Solutions Limited, Nonexecutive Director of Brightbeam Limited, Non-executive Director of TicketSolve Limited, Non-executive Director of Hi-Volt Ireland Limited, member of the Board of Governors to the Guildford School of Acting Conservatoire, Non-executive Director (FSA registered) of Merchant Navy Pensions Administration (MNPA) Ltd, Nonexecutive Director of Chariot (UK) plc, Chairman of Encore Tickets Ltd, Chairman of Amhanta Solutions Ltd, Deputy Chairman of The Business Phone Limited, Non-executive Director of Appian Technology plc, Chairman of Legal Eagle UK Limited, Chairman of Touchdown Integrated Marketing Ltd, Chair of the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council s Added-Value Board and Chairman of Allfinanz. John Charles Finan Page 2
Strategist: Specialist in business turnarounds, startups and profitable disposals John Finan has devised and implemented winning strategies for both large and small businesses. He totally refocused Winterthur Life UK from a dependence on estate agency business to a major pensions force at the top end of the IFA market, with other routes to market also successfully established. As non-executive chairman of Allfinanz, Dublin, he presided over the group's restructuring and raising of external venture capital. He enabled INVESCO to exit from the insurance business with the highly profitable disposal of NEL. He was formerly chairman of and consultant to Legal Marketing Services, which had grown into the UK's largest independent network of solicitors. He was also formerly Chairman of the Common Purpose Advisory Group (voluntary). Deal Maker At Winterthur Life UK, John Finan negotiated and completed the 305 million acquisition of Colonial Life for Winterthur, adding critical mass and a wider portfolio of products. Legal Marketing Services was the UK's largest transactor of legal property business through deals negotiated with a variety of major players including Abbey National, Nationwide and Bank of Scotland. He successfully negotiated, on behalf of INVESCO, to complete the sale of NEL to UNUM and Century Life. International/European Experience Following the reorientation of Credit Suisse, John Finan was appointed to the international board of Winterthur Life & Pensions, the international life and pensions arm of Credit Suisse. He has advised Enterprise Ireland (formerly the Irish Development Agency) and has acted as mentor to a number of young Irish high-tech and financial companies. He was Chairman of 3Q Software Solutions Ltd a Dublin-based provider of innovative wealth management solutions to financial services companies, Non- John Charles Finan Page 3
executive Director of Exoftware Agile Solutions Ltd, Ticketsolve Limited and Brightbeam Limited, all based in Dublin and he is currently Chairman of Frontline Energy & Environmental Limited Dublin and UK and Chairman of Ecco Synergy UK Limited. He has been Chairman of the European education Committee and the UK Committee of Life Insurance Marketing Research Association (LIMRA) and lectured in Europe on business and financial services. Innovation John Finan has managed the pioneering development by Winterthur of self invested personal pensions (SIPPs), including thirdparty administration, and established Winterthur as the largest provider of this fast-growing, upmarket pension product. Under his stewardship, Winterthur also carried out pioneering work in the relatively new area of income drawdown, designed to give people more control over their retirement income. Under his chairmanship, Legal Marketing Services pioneered innovative mortgage services, including a version of the Government's seller's pack to improve the buying and selling process for homeowners. At Pearl Assurance he founded the group's marketing services operation, which enabled Pearl to expand its business into new and profitable areas. Management Philosophy and Style John Finan believes that successful management must combine a capacity for taking tough decisions with an inclusive and incentivising approach to staff. His tough style of management enabled Winterthur Life UK in the last year of his stewardship to bring down costs from 43 million to 26 million, even at a time of refocusing the company's priorities and achieving record sales in all its specialist pension markets. His approach to staff is a frank, open door one, in which members of staff are encouraged to contribute and made to feel they and their views are central to the enterprise. He has given a high priority to education and training, to enable individuals to achieve John Charles Finan Page 4
their full potential, and to rewards and acknowledgment for achievements. Publications John has written several articles and was commissioned to write a series of articles for Bank Marketing International, a Lafferty publication. These articles dealt with issues on marketing, depolarisation and branding in the financial services industry. Contact Details John Charles Finan Suite 11, Sterling House 31-39 South Street Reading Berkshire RG1 4QU M +44 7774 276 301 T +44 118 959 1252 F +44 118 958 5296 E john@finan.co.uk W www.finan.co.uk John Charles Finan Page 5