The Association of Financial Mutuals (AFM) has appointed Andrew Whyte as their new chief executive.
Whyte most recently worked as the Financial Conduct Authority’s director of communications. He has also worked for numerous government agencies and spent seven years as the BBC’s head of corporate and public relations.
Whyte will start in his new role on January 1st, 2023. It is anticipated that the outgoing chief executive Martin Shaw will continue in a part-time, policy-focused capacity to support him once he has assumed full control of operating AFM, especially during a busy time for the UK mutual industry.
Shaw has served as the AFM’s chief executive since the organisation’s founding in 2010. The AFM is the trade association for mutual insurers, friendly societies, and non-profit healthcare providers in the UK and Ireland. He earlier this year told the AFM Board of his intention to retire by April 2023.
AFM chair Stuart Tragheim (CEO of Holloway Friendly) says: “The AFM Board undertook an extensive recruitment process and was delighted with the calibre of candidates. Andrew stood out from the rest, through both his very relevant experience and his natural capacity to lead the trade association in an imaginative and empathetic way.
“The Board look forward to working with Andrew on some of the key opportunities and challenges facing the sector currently, including the development of new legislation, and our calls for balanced regulation. We also plan to build on the recent positive work of AFM, to promote awareness of the benefits of mutuality, and to equip our people with the skills and knowledge to do their job effectively.”
Whyte says: “I am honoured to be appointed as Chief Executive of the AFM. The ethos of the mutual movement has never been more important than now – putting members’ interests above all else, giving consumers genuine choice and helping to promote a competitive and vibrant financial services industry. AFM has a vital role to play as an energetic and articulate advocate for the sector and I am incredibly excited by the opportunities ahead.
“But I know I have big shoes to fill. Martin Shaw has done a remarkable job leading the AFM, establishing it as the authoritative voice of the mutual sector at the same time as delivering a high-quality professional development and training programme. I am delighted that Martin will continue on with the AFM and I am looking forward to working with him and the Board in taking the sector, and AFM, forward.”
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