Standard Life poaches Hunt for deputy finance chief

Published on Thursday 4 September 2008 21:35

STANDARD Life has poached the head of finance of rival Norwich Union to become its new deputy finance director, its second senior appointment in a week.

Jackie Hunt, currently chief financial officer at Norwich Union, the UK business of Aviva, will take up the position with Standard Life in early January.

South African-born, Hunt has previously worked in senior positions with Deloitte & Touche in New Zealand, with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the US and Switzerland and with Royal & Sun Alliance in the UK, before joining Aviva in 2003.

She will be Standard Life's first deputy finance director, a new role that will allow finance director David Nish to "focus on more strategic issues", a spokeswoman said.

Nish, previously the finance director at ScottishPower, is a likely contender to replace Sandy Crombie when Standard Life's chief executive eventually steps down. But the spokeswoman denied that Hunt was being appointed to take over from Nish as finance director, saying the recruitment was part of continuing development of the group.

Hunt's responsibilities will include external financial reporting, performance management and taxation, Standard Life said yesterday.

Hunt said: "I've been very impressed by the progress made by Standard Life in recent years, and look forward to being part of the team that leads the company to even greater success."

Last week Standard Life appointed Mike Conway as head of human resources, luring him from a senior position with Royal Dutch Shell, based in the Hague.

The company has yet to appoint a replacement for Trevor Matthews, head of its UK life and pensions business, who quit to join Friends Provident as chief executive. Crombie continues to hold both roles, the spokeswoman said.