Friends Provident boss steps down

The boss of British life insurer Friends Provident stepped down today following his firm’s failure to complete a £8.6bn (€12.19bn) merger with Resolution.

Philip Moore’s departure comes less than a year after he became chief executive, having joined the company in 2003 as finance director.

Friends also said it would review its strategic options, with the results expected at the time of fourth quarter sales figures in January.

The review will be led by chairman Adrian Montague, who has taken on an executive role while the company looks for a full-time successor to Mr Moore.

Friends missed out on a merger with Resolution after the closed life fund specialist switched its backing to a takeover offer from Standard Life.

However, that proposal also fell through, with Resolution now likely to be taken over by Pearl Assurance.