About Us

Helen Crofts - Chair

As a qualified actuary Helen spent the first 20 years of her career in life insurance and reinsurance. At Swiss Re she was Marketing Actuary and Business Development Manager for UK clients, before joining XL Re as Chief Actuary for the life reinsurance startup. Moving to Bermuda, she joined Scottish Re’s offshore team, and remains involved with the International business back in the UK, to ensure she doesn’t lose touch with her technical roots. Returning home in 2006 with a young family, she felt the time was right for a change in direction, and so joined insurance sector specialist executive search company ejsSearch to spearhead the development of the Life and Health Practice. Helen has strong links with the Institute of Actuaries, having organized and chaired a number of their conferences and seminars.

Malcolm Small – Co-founder

With a background in Law, Heavy Engineering, and public Administration, Malcolm has specialised in all aspects of management in Financial Services at senior level for the last 20 years. Classically trained in marketing at Marketing Centre Europe in Brussels, he has also operated as a Marketing Director in I.T., preparing software applications for market and following through to product delivery. He spent 14 years with Norwich Union, latterly at operating Board level in Life and Pensions, and 5 years at Merchant Investors, a specialist high net worth investment and pension provider in Bristol.

More recently, as Managing Director of Lyncombe Consultancy, he has specialised in the regulatory, technical and operational aspects of pensions, and a wide range of other retail financial services. With a particular interest in, and experience of, Distribution in the UK, he has been involved in a number of initiatives building new businesses in this field. A past Chair of the Investment and Life Assurance Group, a practitioner trade body, he also has a strong presence in public affairs and public policy work. He is a frequent speaker, and author, on industry topics, Chairing a wide range of industry meetings and conferences.

Malcolm has undertaken research in pensions through The Pensions Report and is Chairman of The-Pensions-Net-Work; a membership based standing conference in the Net-Work series.

He is Director of Portfolio and Retirement Planning at the Tax Incentivised Savings Association, leading the work of the Association in Pensions, Distribution and Platforms. He is also a Non-Executive Director of B&CE Insurance, provider of pensions and financial services to the construction industry.

In addition he is a Senior Policy Adviser on Pensions at the Institute of Directors and a member of the Advisory Council at The Pensions Regulator.

Relevant web links:

www.iod.com
www.tisa.uk.com
www.lyncombeconsultancy.com
www.the-pensions-net-work.com

Mobile: 07989 500 771

Peter Le Beau – Co-founder

Peter Le Beau has worked in the financial services industry for over 30 years and is one of the best known speakers and writers in the business. Although Peter’s career has been largely spent in reassurance, he has extensive experience in business to business marketing and in helping clients to think in original ways about their marketing approach. Peter’s success in helping Swiss Re to develop its proposition in the UK has given him an enviable network of contacts throughout the marketplace. Peter believes that business should be fun without sacrificing professionalism and has a keen sense of humour which is very much in evidence in the advice he dispenses to clients.

Peter has worked or consulted in the US, South Africa, Asia and European life markets.

Peter has established the Net-Work, a highly successful standing conference in financial services which meets four times a year. Further details can be found at www.the-net-work.org.

Patricia McSherry - Business Manager

Patricia is the Net-Work Meetings Business Manager. She is the contact point regarding all of the logistical and financial elements of the Meetings. Patricia is also responsible for the production and collation of the meeting documentation and the running of the events. She has a wealth of experience gained through her commercial career history. Patricia's finely honed commercial and organisational skills are evident at the meetings!