The new business, which is yet to be named, but which will form part of the Paradigm Group of companies set up by Bankhall founder Hogarth in 2007, is expected to offer a suite of tax wrappers to allow advisers to target the workplace pensions and benefits market. It will also offer a consultancy service.
Bee, who leaves his job as Scottish Life’s head of pensions strategy at the end of January 2010, says he is making the switch because he believes it is advisers rather than providers who will be at the heart of a successful pension system in future.
The new entity is due to launch in Q2 2010 and is being designed to take advantage of adviser opportunities and challenges thrown up by auto-enrolment, personal accounts and the Retail Distribution Review.
Precise details of exactly how the business will operate are yet to be finalised, but Paradigm is believed to be aiming to offer an adviser-centric challenge to life offices that could blend adviser consolidation and consultancy services.
Bee, who will become a partner at Paradigm, joined Scottish Life in 1997 from Prudential where he spent over 20 years.
Paul Hogarth said: “I have been an admirer of Steve and his thinking for many years. He is widely recognized as the UKs leading authority on all things pensions and is regarded as a national treasure by advisers. To have been able to lure him and his thinking away from the manufacturing end of the market into distribution will be of huge benefit to the adviser community and will, I‘m sure, prove to be one of the highlights of my career.
“Steve and I share a vision about the future of pensions in the UK and the role financial advisers should play in making them more accessible and available. The proposition we will be launching in the new year is all about turning that vision into reality and I am extremely excited about its prospects.”
John Deane, chief executive of Scottish Life says: “They say that all good things must come to an end and Steve has been a very good thing for Scottish Life. We’d like to thank him for all he’s done during his time with us. Steve has helped Scottish Life become a major player in the market, with real product innovation and an excellent service proposition. We’ll be giving him a good send off when he goes, with our very best wishes for the future.”
