New Interim Chief for Standard Life

November 11 - As Standard Life goes through the "formal recruitment process" to find a permanent Chief Financial Officer, the group unveiled its new interim CFO.

The South African born Jackie Hunt has what the group calls "extensive international experience in the financial services industry".

She qualified with Deloittes as a chartered accountant and then went on to work for top names in the industry such as PricewaterhouseCoopers in London, New York and Zurich.

After serving as Chief Financial Officer at Norwich Union Insurance, Hunt joined Aviva in 2003 until she was lured away to join Standard Life in 2009.

Although Hunt was headhunted to serve as a deputy to the finance director David Nish, it was soon clear that Standard Life had more ambitious plans for her.

Nish is due to take over the role as Chief Executive from Sir Sandy Crombie who is due to step down on January 1st.

Sir Crombie has indicated that he will stay on as a consultant to Standard Life, but only until March 2010.

Industry analysts widely believe that Jackie Hunt's interim appointment could become permanent based on several observations.

A full biography of Hunt's career and qualifications was published, while the group's chairman said that there would be no major reshuffle among executives in the search for a permanent CFO.