Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based CFO’ operating in the Insurance space. If you think a CFO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Rob Dimsey
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer of Ascot Underwriting
Rob is Ascot’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Ascot Board. Rob qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young in 1994 and joined Ascot in 2003 after a number of years in the insurance industry in a variety of roles. Rob was appointed to the Ascot Board in 2008.
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About Ascot Underwriting: Ascot Underwriting is a Lloyd’s of London syndicate and a leading global specialty insurance underwriter.
Thomas Stoddard
Group Chief Financial Officer of Aviva Group
Tom joined Aviva in April 2014 as chief financial officer and a member of the Group Executive. He has worked primarily as an investment banker, including advising Aviva plc. He also has experience as a corporate lawyer and an asset based lender. From 2008 to 2014, Tom was Senior Managing Director, Head of Global Financial Institutions Advisory, at the investment and advisory firm Blackstone Advisory Partners LP with responsibility for successfully driving Blackstone’s business of advising banks, insurers and other financial institutions globally on M&A and restructuring. He also held senior investment banking positions at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (investment company) and its successor, Credit Suisse (financial services holding company), where he led the global insurance group as Managing Director. Tom also practiced corporate and securities law with Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (US law firm) from 1992 to 1994.”
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About Aviva Group: Aviva is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London.
Ian Konrath
Interim CFO of Instanda
Ian Konrath is an Experienced CFO with significant operations, systems and Business Information experience gained with high-tech, software, silicon, health information and consulting companies. Track record of achievement supporting project/product/programme/business unit operations and reporting for both traditional and matrixed organisations.
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About Instanda: Instanda is a SaaS insurance software platform that allows insurance companies to build, configure, and launch products online.
Alexander Badalyan
CFO and Co-Founder of Mashroom
Alexander Badalyan is the CFO and Co-Founder at Mashroom.
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About Mashroom: Mashroom is a proptech startup that provides end-to-end property letting services to landlords and tenants.
Tim Harris
Chief Financial Officer of Direct Line Insurance
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About Direct Line Insurance: Direct Line Group is an organization with a clear mission: to make insurance much easier and better value for customers.
Penny James
Chief Financial Officer of Direct Line Insurance
Penny James joined the Board as an Executive Director in November 2017 and became Chief Financial Officer on 1 March 2018. Penny has extensive financial services experience, having been Group Chief Risk Officer and Executive Director at Prudential plc, where she was responsible for leading risk oversight globally. Before this she was Director of Group Finance at Prudential. She had previously been Group Chief Financial Officer at Omega Insurance Holdings Limited and CFO, UK General Insurance, at Zurich Financial Services. Penny was a Non-Executive Director of Admiral Group plc from January 2015 to September 2017. She is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
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About Direct Line Insurance: Direct Line Group is an organization with a clear mission: to make insurance much easier and better value for customers.
Penny James
Chief Financial Officer of Direct Line Insurance
Penny James joined the Board as an Executive Director in November 2017 and became Chief Financial Officer on 1 March 2018. Penny has extensive financial services experience, having been Group Chief Risk Officer and Executive Director at Prudential plc, where she was responsible for leading risk oversight globally. Before this she was Director of Group Finance at Prudential. She had previously been Group Chief Financial Officer at Omega Insurance Holdings Limited and CFO, UK General Insurance, at Zurich Financial Services. Penny was a Non-Executive Director of Admiral Group plc from January 2015 to September 2017. She is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
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About Direct Line Insurance: Direct Line Group is an organization with a clear mission: to make insurance much easier and better value for customers.
Ian Pettifor
Co-Founder and CFO of Azur Group
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About Azur Group: Azur is a Managing Digital Agency (MDA), in partnership with AIG, one of the world’s largest and best-respected insurance companies.
Tom Coward
CFO of Cytora
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About Cytora: Cytora is a configurable platform that enables commercial insurers to create digital workflows by digitising, evaluating and routing risks.
Dominic James Platt
Chief Financial Officer of BGL Group
Dominic joined BGL in March 2016. Prior to joining the Group, Dominic spent five years at Darty Plc from 2010-2015, where he was Group Finance Director and Managing Director of International Businesses. Before Darty, Dominic spent 18 years at Cable and Wireless where he held a number of financial roles across the Group, culminating in his role as Group Financial Controller, from 2005 until 2009. Dominic has extensive experience in consumer-focused public companies operating in a regulated environment. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and is a graduate of Cambridge University with a Masters degree in Classics.
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About BGL Group, N Brown Group: BGL Group digitally distributes insurance and financial products.
James Halley
Group Chief Financial Officer of DARAG Deutsche Versicherungs- und Rückversicherungs
James joined DARAG in September 2018. During the course of his career, he has served in a number of executive roles, including the last 6 years as Finance Director of AEGIS Syndicate 1225 at Lloyd’s. Prior to that he held roles as CFO/Finance Director of AXA Ireland and the British Horseracing Board (the governing body of horseracing in Great Britain), as well as several years as Finance Director of a private-equity backed betting business. James began his career at Ernst & Young (Ireland) where he qualified as a chartered accountant in 1988. Post-qualification, he started work in the Financial Markets Division of Arthur Andersen in London. In over 10 years at Andersen, he specialised in the London, Lloyd’s and international non-life insurance markets, latterly as an audit/assurance partner.
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About DARAG Deutsche Versicherungs- und Rückversicherungs: DARAG Deutsche Versicherungs- und Rückversicherungs is a legacy specialist and a pioneer in the delivery of finality solutions.
Ralph Coates
Chief Financial Officer of TSB Banking Group
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About TSB Banking Group: TSB Banking Group provides various banking products and services to personal and small business customers in the United Kingdom.
Francis Israeli
Group CFO of PassportCard
Francis assumes responsibility for developing PassportCard’s group finance to its expansion of real-time travel insurance offering across markets in Europe, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region. Francis has more than 20 years’ experience in International Finance, Compliance and Risk Management. In his previous roles, Francis was the Head of Operational Risk Management for the EMEA region for AIG Europe Limited; Chief Risk Officer, Compliance Officer and Financial Controller for AIG Israel.
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About PassportCard: PassportCard is a real-time travel insurance solution.
Kerry Smith
Chief Financial Officer/Financial Controller of Centor Insurance and Risk Management
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About Centor Insurance and Risk Management: Centor is an insurance and risk management solutions provider.
Chris Pennington
Chief Financial Officer of SSP
Chris joined SSP in 2009 and held a number of senior finance positions prior to his appointment as CFO in May 2018. Before joining SSP, Chris spent 12 years with PwC, latterly as a Director in the Corporate Finance practice. Chris is a Chartered Accountant.
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About SSP: SSP is a provider of technology systems and solutions for the insurance industry.
Phil Rock
Group Chief Financial Officer of Global Risk Partners
Phil Rock is the group chief financial officer at Global Risk Partners.
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About Global Risk Partners: Global Risk Partners is an investment vehicle aimed at insurance brokers and managing general agents trading in the UK retail and global.
