Continuing our series of profiles on our clients, we speak to Gary Shaughnessy – Managing Director, Wealth & Health Management & Mature Life & Pensions for Prudential UK & Europe – outlining his principal business role and uncovering what drives him to success.
What does your role at Prudential involve?
I’m responsible for Wealth & Health Management & Mature Life & Pensions and leading the UK strategy work.
You were at M&G – how did your role there develop?
I joined M&G in 1999 – just as Prudential purchased them – and was initially responsible for the direct marketing business. I was then appointed Chief Executive for M&G’s UK retail business until my recent move to Prudential.
M&G is a retail investment manager – managing unit trusts on behalf of a range of investors, from stockbrokers and discretionary fund managers through to individuals (either via IFAs or direct), so my daily workload was incredibly varied.
How has your career developed in the industry?
I’ve worked in financial services for 20 years now, essentially as a marketeer. Having started with the Bank of Scotland, I moved to the AA who, as a mutual, were extremely customer-centric, with quite an inspirational commitment to members. From there I joined Axa, then M&G as Marketing Director.
Your business ethos is described as ‘customer-facing’ – how does that manifest itself?
It’s about making sure that the business – and the management within it – stays connected to the customer and business partners. For example, listening to feedback through the call-centre is one of the greatest ways to get an insight into customer needs. Talking to intermediaries is also vital.
If you’re not serving the customer, you had better be serving someone who is!
How do you use that customer insight to develop marketable products?
By working through potential investment solutions and then ensuring you understand your customer base well enough to determine whether those solutions really meet your customers’ needs. You then need to communicate those solutions in a manner that the customer recognises, understands and relates to.
Would you change anything about the industry you work in?
Historically the industry has been guilty of making things too complex and too internally driven. Simplicity and transparency is vital.
I also believe industry regulation needs to be more constructive, driving a more supportive relationship with the customer, to ensure greater long-term benefit for all parties.
What excites you about your business environment?
There’s a massive consumer need, fuelling real opportunities. People are living longer, and the provision for the future is shifting from an emphasis on employers and the state to the individual.
The challenge for financial services is to provide for those needs in a recognisable ‘added-value’ format, that’s communicated in an accessible manner.
What are your key goals in your new role at Prudential?
From a professional perspective, it’s leading the Wealth & Health Management division to become a market-leading business that creates value in a market that’s become extremely commoditised.
As customers increasingly find they have health and asset risks to manage, our goal must be to provide genuine solutions to help them manage those risks and provide for their futures. The Prudential, Egg and M&G brands have enormous goodwill and we must continue to deserve that goodwill and build on it.