Rob Edwards

Overview Profile:

Experienced main function Director - Chief Operating Officer (COO) for 12 yearsfrom 2001, with extensive (36 years) Financial Services experience, 25 years with Family Investments (FI).

Fully understand the Board’s Corporate Governance responsibilities, having been a FI Committee of Management member for 15 years.

Family Investments is a mutual, a modern Friendly Society which established itself as the leading Child Trust Fund provider with 20% market share, and the manufacturer of ISA’s for the Post Office, as a consequence growing from 500k accounts in 2005 to nearly 2m accounts, also quadrupling funds under management, and doubling annual premium income.

Managed all major functions - IT, Business Change, Customer Services, Finance and Marketing, leading operational changes to take on new products, maximise efficiency, and improve customer service. As a consequence, strong understanding of good Governance and operational risk management.

Responsibility for circa £20m annual budgets, and circa 350 of the 400+ employee base, which under my direction grew from 180 in 2005.

I played a critical role on Family’s corporate Risk Management Steering Group, chaired the Disaster Recovery Steering Group, and worked very closely with the Risk Audit Committee (RAC), attending many of the RAC meetings. I was responsible for all operational risks, and signed off Family’s risk-based capital assessment submission to the FSA.

Experience of dealing with FSA. Good working knowledge of Solvency II, ICA, FCR, RMP.Sound financial acumen.

Strong advocate of mutuality, in particular strong customer ethos. Led FI’s response to TCF initiative, designing and implementing new MI to demonstrate customer outcomes being met successfully

Proven experience of partner liaison, maintaining strong, profitable relationships, and

of influential negotiations with Government officials at HMT and HMRC

Chaired COO network of Association of Financial Mutuals (AFM) for 3 years.

Experienced Business Change leader - As the main Board Director responsible for corporate change, I had primary responsibility for successfully transforming FI through significant growth phases, and directing the associated new product developments.

Proven capability of translating strategy into change programmes, and successfully directed mission-critical strategic changes and business transformations over many years. Rigorous transformation approach based on structured planning and controls, key financial analysis and modelling, critical risk assessment and mitigation

Examples of successful change programmes:

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-Directed FI’s Child Trust Fund (CTF) strategy formulation and implementation from Oct 2004 to April 2006:

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-Formulated strategy, prepared business case, and financial models

-Won new partnership distribution deals with big partners to ensure sizeable market share, negotiated commercial terms and contracts

-Designed and implemented new low cost operating model, led systems reviews and major changes

-Successful programme - Family won key partnership deals, launched on time, well within budget of £7m, became the leading provider with 20% market share, with 750k accounts after 5 years, and an operating cost/policy at 50% of modelling assumption. Annual premium income doubled in first year, and increase maintained year-on-year. CTF now generates 40% of FI’s revenue.

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-Directed Post Office ISAcommercial and contract negotiation, and product implementation programme Oct 2007 to Aug 2009:

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-Formulated operational strategy, and fully assessed all new costs.

-Negotiated commercial and contractual terms

-Prepared business case, and financial models

-Designed and implemented new low cost operating model, implemented systems reviews and major changes

-Successful programme - Family launched on time, and on budget (£5m), and although fewer accounts set up than modelled, set up costs have been fully recovered, the business operates profitably, generates 25% of FI’s total revenue after only 5 years, and FI’s total funds under management have doubled.

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-Directed development of FI’s operational capability to successfully import 400,000 Santander CTF accounts, following acquisition of ex-Abbey CTF book Oct 2008 to Dec 2009

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-Produced financial models to assess profitability and critical success factors

-Conducted commercial and contractual negotiations

-Directed operational and systems changes to cater for new product (Cash CTF) and 67% increase in CTF book and revenue

-Successful programme -Family on-boarded accounts 2 months early, and on budget (£2m), and there were no serious migration issues. All benefits immediately realised.

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-Directed FI’s IT applications strategy formulation from Nov 2012 to Sep 2013:

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-Directed the design of a new future operating platform to radically reduce costs.

-Led the evaluation of alternative platform providers to compare implementation costs and risks, and ongoing running costs, to my proposed solution to integrate new technologies with existing platform(s)

-Presented new IT strategy to full Board successfully –implementation will reduce running costs by £1m pa, thereby reducing total operating costs by 5%, with payback in less than 2 years.

Recent FI Career Summary:

Chief Operating Officer (COO) Family Investments (FI)

Feb 2001 – Sept 2013

Responsible for key FI functions of marketing, customer services, finance, IT, and corporate change. Formulated FI’s business change approach and planning

Successfully managed growth of FI from 500k accounts to nearly 2m accounts and employee levels from 200 – 400, directing several significant operational changes, to transform FI into an effective high-volume, customer-centric operation, maintaining trusted relationships with partners and customers

Developed effective team(s) capable of delivering and driving significant changes to support FI’s strategic initiatives, replacing Function Heads as required

Led 2 cost rationalisation programmes, as necessitated by external factors – both achieved without compromising FI’s future growth potential and capability

Earlier Career Summary:

Director of Operations FI 1998 – 2001

Responsible for IT, customer services, and customer communications

Directed FI’s ISA launch programme – ensuring appropriate operational capability, IT platform and customer servicing, in place

Led transformation of customer services, with multi-skilled teams’ concept, to improve levels of service

Directed programmes to onboard acquired company’s back books.

Head of IT FI 1988 – 1998

Responsible for all FI’s IT operations, and all IT developments

Initiated, justified, and led implementation, of the downsizing of FI’s computer provision from mainframe to PC/server technology, working with external business/software partner. Internally sponsored the major business transformation, completed in 1997, thereby achieving major annual cost savings. FI were probably then the largest Financial Services company, with 500k accounts, on such a platform.

Computer Services Manager TWEFS (now The Children’s Mutual, TCM) 1985 – 1988

Responsible for all TWEFS IT and new system developments

PMLAA 1977 – 1985

Positions held – Actuarial trainee, then computer programmer, programming team leader, then PC analyst/programmer

Education level:

Degree level – Honours degree in Mathematics (BSc) - Leeds University, graduated 1977

Leisure activities:

Sport – active tennis player at club level

Theatre

Gardening

Dog walking

Contact details:

28 Dene Drive, Eastbourne, BN22 0EX

01323 502786, Mob – 07557 371303

Email –