Most products that fail in distribution were priced by people who have never sat with an adviser, or sold by people who have never seen the pricing model. I’ve done both.
Firms usually get in touch when one of these is on the table.
A proposition that makes sense internally but stalls with advisers. Take-up is slow, and the feedback is about charges, complexity or fit with advice processes. I review the design, pricing and adviser proposition from both sides and set out what to change.
A retirement or later-life product to price. Annuities, equity release and bulk pension buyouts carry long-term assumptions that are hard to unwind. I bring pricing methodology, assumption setting and board papers from direct experience of all three.
Product governance and fair value under scrutiny. Consumer Duty asks boards to show a product delivers value to the customers it’s sold to. I challenge fair value assessments and governance frameworks with the eye of someone who has built one.
A new channel or market. Selling direct alongside advisers, or launching overseas, tends to expose gaps between head office design and local reality. I’ve led product development for an overseas launch and know where those gaps open up.
Technology or AI spend with an unclear return. An actuary’s job is pricing uncertain future cash flows and challenging the assumptions behind them. An AI business case is the same exercise, and I test it the same way before the money is committed.
Projects: a defined piece of work with a clear output, such as a proposition review, a pricing methodology or a fair value challenge.
Ongoing support: a regular seat alongside a product committee, board or leadership team, or interim cover for a senior product, pricing or governance role.
Single sessions: a working session with a board or leadership team facing a specific decision.
On the product side: at Partnership, I delivered the pricing methodology and board paper for the UK life industry’s first annuity with a surrender option in under two weeks, and built the method behind bulk buyout deals worth hundreds of millions of pounds. At St. James’s Place, I developed the firm’s first product governance framework. At Prudential, I chaired the working group that designed and launched a new product suite in Poland.
On the distribution side: I founded and ran a succession of advice firms, through to the sale of the business. That time showed me, case by case, why well-built products succeed or stall once they reach an adviser and a client.
Credentials: Chartered Actuary (FIA) · Chartered Financial Planner (FPFS)
Short papers for executives and boards in financial services.
A 30-minute conversation is usually enough to tell whether I can help, and what it would involve.
