John White was elected as president of the Personal Finance Society for 2018 to 2019 at today's (18 September) annual general meeting.
Mr White is currently chief executive of Sanlam UK and has spent more than 26 years in financial services.
He will take over from Sharon Sutton, who is stepping down from the board after a 12-month rotation as president.
Mr White said: "This is an interesting time for the profession and I am really looking forward to my year as president of the PFS. My theme for the year will be the promotion of financial education and awareness whilst also raising the profile of professional advice and the role it plays in society.
"The launch of the society’s new educational outreach programme, 'discover fortunes' will be at the heart of my presidential theme."
Before moving to Sanlam, Mr White was chief operating officer at Arthur J Gallagher & Co.
Before this he held management positions at Baker Tilly, RSM Tenon, RSM Bentley Jennison and RSM Robson Rhodes.
He was appointed to the PFS board of directors in September 2015.
Keith Richards, chief executive of the PFS, said: "We are delighted to welcome John as president of the PFS.
"His broad experience of both our profession and of working with us over the past couple of years as a board member, will be invaluable in supporting our ongoing commitment to evolve as a modern professional body. I look forward to working with him over the next 12 months.
"I would also like to thank past president Sharon Sutton for her contribution to the profession over the past year.
"Her theme of financial planning good practice including the use of new tools and techniques and practitioner experience has helped more members to adopt new processes and achieve better outcomes for clients’ life planning. We will continue to build on this."
Vanessa Barnes and Caroline Stuart were also appointed as directors at the meeting.
damian.fantato@ft.com
