About the Single Financial Guidance Body

The Single Financial Guidance Body (SFGB) creates one organisation from the three existing providers of government-sponsored financial guidance:

• The Money Advice Service
• The Pensions Advisory Service
• Pension Wise

bringing together for the first time the provision of debt advice, money guidance and pensions guidance.

The SFGB is funded by levies on both the financial services industry and pension schemes. The new body is sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions, but will also engage with HM Treasury, which is responsible for policy on financial capability and debt advice.

Single Financial Guidance Body - The purpose

The new Single Financial Guidance Body (SFGB) has five core functions:

Pensions guidance

to provide information to the public on matters relating to workplace and personal pensions.

Money guidance

to provide information designed to enhance people's understanding and knowledge of financial matters and day-to-day money management skills.

Debt advice

to provide people in England with information and advice on debt.

Consumer protection

enabling the SFGB to work with Government and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in protecting consumers.

Strategy

work with the financial services industry, devolved authorities and the public and voluntary sectors to develop a national strategy to improve people's financial capability, help them manage debt and provide financial education for children and young people.

All staff from the current three organisations have transferred to the SFGB organisation SFGB under the new Board and Leadership Team. This enables a continuity of service keeping it “business as usual” for consumers.

As 2019 progresses, a new name will be sought for the SFGB. A new outreach strategy will also be developed, which will include a new integrated service offer and enhanced partnership working with the wider industry, employers and key stakeholders.

The Board

• 

  Sir Hector Sants (Chair)

  Since retiring from full time work, Hector has been working to help people manage their money as well as circumstances allow and promoting a fairer financial system which works for everyone. He is currently a trustee of Just Finance, a charity which collaborates with The Church of England to promote a fairer financial system.

  Before becoming Chair of the SFGB, Hector was Chair of Stepchange, the UK's largest debt advice charity. He brings vast knowledge and experience to the SFGB having spent more than 30 years working in financial services and regulation, including serving as the CEO of the Financial Services Authority, European CEO of Credit Suisse and Head of Compliance at Barclays. Outside of financial services his work has included Chairing the Oxford University Said Business School and being a NHS non-executive director.

• 

  John Govett (Chief Executive)

  Before joining the SFGB, John was Group CEO of Ixion Holdings. His career has spanned the public, private and charity sectors and has been in transformational change, partnership working, delivering outstanding services and leading successful growth. Previous posts include: Managing Director, Surrey County Council; Board Executive, Shaw Trust Charity; and Commercial Board Director, P&O Ferries. John is also Deputy Chairman/Non-Executive Director of an NHS Foundation Trust acute hospital.

• 

  Helen John (Chief Financial Officer)

  Helen has joined the SFGB on secondment from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). She is a qualified accountant (FCA) with 25 years' experience in the public sector (HM Treasury and DWP). Prior to her role as Chief Financial Officer she was Head of DWP's Arm's Length Bodies Partnership team.

Non-Executive Directors

• 

  Ann Harris OBE, CPFA (Non-Executive Director and Chair, Audit and Risk Assurance Committee)

  Before joining the SFGB Board, Ann was the Chair and a Non-Executive Director of The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS). She previously worked for 40 years as a civil servant, latterly holding Senior Civil Service roles in finance and programme management. She was awarded an OBE in 2009, for her services to DWP. Ann's roles outside DWP include the independent audit and risk committee member for the Gambling Commission, Chair of St Paul's Estate management company, Vice Chair of Dunstable and District Citizens Advice and Company Secretary for Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway.

• 

  Tim Jones (Non-Executive Director and Chair, Finance and Investment Committee)

  Tim is a financial services executive with experience spanning payment systems, retail banking, pensions and institutional stockbroking. Tim is currently Global Ambassador for the Tibado digital cash solution, and serves as an Independent Director at ITG Inc., an institutional broker-dealer in New York. Previous roles include: CEO of The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) and the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) for the Department of Work and Pensions. Earlier in his career, Tim Jones spent 17 years at NatWest Bank.

• 

  Mike Dailly (Non-Executive Director and Chair, Remuneration and People Committee)

  Mike is the Director of a not-for-profit advice centre and a court lawyer with around 25 years' experience of advocating for consumers and vulnerable people in financial difficulty. He is a Solicitor Advocate with a demonstrable track record in the legal services industry, and an experienced non-executive director with regulatory knowledge across several UK and EU sectors.

  He is a member of the European Banking Authority's Stakeholder Group and a visiting lecturer at the University of Glasgow. He was a member of the Financial Conduct Authority's Consumer Panel from 2009 to 2015 and chaired its working group advising the FCA on the regulation of retail banking, mortgages and general insurance. He has been a member of HM Treasury/BIS Future Regulation of Consumer Credit Stakeholder Forum, FSCS Advisory Panel and chaired the UK Valuation Commission Residential Cross-sector Group for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He was awarded the title “Scottish Solicitor of the Year” at the Law Awards of Scotland in 2007 and 2011.

• 

  Professor Elaine Kempson (Non-Executive Director)

  Emeritus Professor at the University of Bristol, Professor Elaine has nearly 30 years' experience of research and policy analysis on consumer behaviour and the provision of both government and commercial financial services. She was previously a consultant with both the World Bank and the OECD and carried out the first two independent reviews of the Banking Codes. She is currently a non-executive director of the Lending Standards Board and the Standard Life Foundation, she was also a member of the Money Advice Service Financial Capability Strategy Board. In 2007 Elaine was awarded a CBE for services to the financial services industry.

• 

  Moray McDonald (Non-Executive Director)

  Moray has worked across retail and business financial services in the UK, Southern Europe and Asia for more than 30 years. He has contributed to financial policy through Australian and UK Central Bank enquiries, CMA Hearings and Treasury Select Committee appearances. He chaired the UK Council of Mortgage Lenders and was a member of the British Bankers Association/UK Finance Retail Board, delivering innovations such as Open Banking standards, Current Account Switching and Digital Cheque Imaging.

  His Not-For-Profit interests include chairing two Australian charities and, in 2017, forming an informal group with the CEOs of the 3 main UK Debt Advice charities to improve the Debt Advice journey for customers.

Management Board

• 

  John Govett (Chief Executive)

  Before joining the SFGB, John was Group CEO of Ixion Holdings. His career has spanned the public, private and charity sectors and has been in transformational change, partnership working, delivering outstanding services and leading successful growth. Previous posts include: Managing Director, Surrey County Council; Board Executive, Shaw Trust Charity; and Commercial Board Director, P&O Ferries. John is also Deputy Chairman/Non-Executive Director of an NHS Foundation Trust acute hospital.

• 

  Helen John (Chief Financial Officer)

  Helen has joined the SFGB on secondment from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). She is a qualified accountant (FCA) with 25 years' experience in the public sector (HM Treasury and DWP). Prior to her role as Chief Financial Officer she was Head of DWP's Arm's Length Bodies Partnership team.

• 

  Bob McNinch - Director of Digital, Marketing and IT

  After studying at the University of Salford, Bob worked in France, the USA and the UK. Before joining the SFGB management board, Bob was Director of Digital and Data at BT as well as Head of Ecommerce and Online User Experience at Vodafone. He has been at the forefront of using technology to positively transform how organisations improve their efficiency and marketing reach at the same time as satisfying the expectations of an increasingly digital-savvy customer.

• 

  Sarah Porretta - Director of Strategy and Insights

  Sarah joins us from MAS where she led on the corporate strategy and the financial capability strategy for the UK. She brings a significant understanding of industry needs and requirements to the SFGB. Before her role at MAS, she was Head of Financial Inclusion and Education at Lloyds Banking Group, where she created a group-wide strategy for financial inclusion and education. Sarah has also held senior positions at Cadbury and the BAA.

• 

  Steve Merion - (interim) People, Skills and Culture Director

  Steve has been fulfilling the HR Director role, on an interim basis, since the formation of the SFGB. He has worked across many sectors and brings a wealth of experience with him. Previous roles include HR Director for Barclays, the Civil Service and Deloitte UK, as well as Programme Director and COO for Credit Suisse. Steve will be with us until March, when we will be joined by Jenny Liebenberg, our permanent People, Skills and Culture Director.

• 

  Caroline Siarkiewicz - Partnerships and Commissioning Director

  Caroline joins the SFGB from the Money Advice Service, where she was Head of UK Debt Advice, responsible for developing the sector's target operating model and building industry partnerships to support the development of the debt advice quality frameworks and the standard financial statement. Previously she was the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Money Advisers and has a wealth of commissioning experience.