Utmost Life and Pensions, one of the newest entrants to the UK bulk annuity market, has appointed former Rothesay Life chief financial officer Andrew Stoker as chief executive.
The company announced the completion of its first transaction in November, and said in a statement today (9 January) that it had completed a second deal in the fourth quarter of last year. It did not give any further details of the latter transaction.
Utmost said it had “established a strong pipeline for 2025”, and was aiming to build up a 5% market share within the next five years.
Under new leadership
The insurance company has appointed Stoker as its CEO, it announced today. He succeeds Stephen Shone, who retired last year.
Stoker was chief financial officer at Rothesay Life for nine years until leaving the company in 2023. He was succeeded by Graham Butcher.
Paul Thompson, group CEO at parent company Utmost Group, thanked Shone for his work in “pivoting Utmost Life and Pensions from a closed book life consolidator to an active participant in the bulk annuity sector”.
He said Stoker’s experience would be “invaluable” for Utmost as it seeks to establish itself within the competitive pension insurance market.
Stoker said his new company had “a strong platform for competing in the market” as well as a “compelling proposition for pension scheme trustees and members”.
Utmost said it had built a team of 20 in-house staff to support its bulk annuity market entry. It has also established partnerships with Schroders for asset management and Mantle Services, which provides pensions software.
In its statement, the insurance company said it had “established a strong and credible offering to address the significant demand for pension risk transfer in the UK”.
