During his one-year reign, Mr Gay, who it was announced today (13 January) is to leave the trade body to join the Association of British Insurers, also admitted Aifa was hundreds of thousands of pounds in the red and saw several rival organisations established to challenge its role as the primary trade body for the advisory sector.
At the Association of British Insurers, Mr Gay will be returning to what some would see as the folds of the less confrontational provider side of the industry. He remains at Aifa for the moment, until a departure date is announced.
As is clear from comments on FTAdviser’s breaking news story of his departure this morning, his legacy at Aifa is the source of much discussion.
What is clearly a fact, though, is he only stayed with the trade body for little more than a year.
In September 2010 it was announced that Mr Gay, who led Aviva’s work around the Retail Distribution Review and also worked for Prudential and Standard Life, had - in his own words - embraced a “fantastic opportunity here to build on Aifa’s successes and to take the organisation forward through this transformational period for the industry.”
By January 2012, he was going to the Association of British Insurers.
Opening up the membership
Shortly after he left provider Aviva to start his role as director-general of Aifa, Mr Gay announced the organisation would undergo a strategic review that would consider all aspects of its operations in order to get it ready for the post-Retail Distribution Review world.
Eight months later, the controversial results of that review were revealed. The report outlined new membership rules to allow restricted advisers to join post-Retail Distribution Review as part of a controversial plan to split Aifa into three arms that will serve IFAs, restricted advisers and mortgage intermediaries.
Plans for the future were swiftly followed in November by the revelation that Aifa’s accounts were less than rosy.
Mr Gay admitted the year had been “challenging” after the association’s accounts for the 12 months ending 30 June 2011 showed it posted a deficit before tax of £194,419, compared to just £14,919 previously.
Mr Gay said the increasing costs were caused by a loss of membership which was brought on by economic woes.
Reception
During Mr Gay’s reign, many IFAs expressed their discontent with the new direction Aifa was taking and several even set up rival bodies.
Adviser Alliance, run by Alan Lakey, is a not-for-profit focused lobby group established in 2009 out of the remnants of the IFA Defence Union.
Ashley Clark set up AdvisersUnited.com, another lobby group.
Recently former Financial Adviser columnist Gill Cardy recently launched IFA Centre, dedicated to supporting independent advice and representing IFAs to the regulators, but on a full-time basis.
One trade body was no longer enough to represent all types of financial adviser, Mr Lakey claimed.
Mr Lakey, partner of Hertfordshire-based Highclere Financial Services, said there was no one definition of an adviser so a one-size-fits-all approach would not work.
Mr Lakey said: “If you consider the term adviser, which is used pretty much constantly, it does not actually have any meaning.
“It is like saying a ‘dog’: there are hundreds of breeds of adviser. All of them have different needs, requirements and viewpoints, so it is not surprising people see the Association of IFAs or Adviser Alliance in one light or another.”
Rather than hit back at those trying to set up rivals to Aifa and erode its position as the voice of IFAs, Mr Gay was keen to assert his focus was on preparing the trade body for a post-Retail Distribution Review and fighting for regulatory change.
Speaking to FTAdviser in April, he said he did not want to get into a war of words with the likes of Mr Lakey.
Some would argue his relative silence on the issue came at the cost of members turning their backs on Aifa, contributing to its plunge into the red.
