The development of Zenith has been founded on an experienced and knowledgeable team of actuaries and consultants that strive to provide insurance and actuarial services to our clients that are valuable and relevant to their business needs. In doing this we build and use technology to deliver the best results for our clients and us.

Our directors and senior actuaries have worked in a multitude of environments, from major insurance groups, large actuarial consultancies, and mutual organisations. We have the flexibility to work in different sectors of the market. We develop and maintain relationships with clients on trust, knowledge and an understanding of the increasing demands of modern financial services.

When it comes to our own business, we are focused on creating an environment for our people to enjoy the roles they perform and to offer opportunities for development. We aim to continuously innovate and improve our services through inspiring and supporting the people that deliver our solutions. These solutions are developed by working closely with clients and experiencing first-hand the changing needs of their business. We make agile decisions founded on knowledge and understanding which means you can trust us to deliver solutions accurately and on time.

Having worked with clients in numerous territories, and with different insurance business needs, we adapt our service offer based on the requirements of our clients.

Why choose Zenith?

We are an energetic and experienced team looking to work in partnership with businesses that are seeking innovative advisory and technology solutions. The extent of our team and knowledge means we can provide you with value-added support aimed at working with you to grow and develop your business.

  • Experienced

    Our people have the know-how to advise and understand your business. We can provide a range of retained services and Actuarial roles.

  • Innovative

    Our Business Applications can bring rapid insights into your business. Advisory services provide you with value-add solutions.

  • Flexible

    We know there is no one-size fits all, so we provide a range of different service packages to fit your needs.

  • Partnership

    We work in partnership with you, taking a collaborative approach to achieve added value for your business.

People who know the Insurance Industry

Zenith has experience in a wide range of actuarial, finance and insurance business matters, gained from the work Zenith does for our clients, and the careers of our staff who have worked within the insurance industry and large actuarial consultancies. Our clients and careers cover dealing with UK, European and international insurance companies, mutual insurers and UK friendly societies.

We can provide specialist advice to insurers writing annuity business, income protection, with-profits, unit-linked, life and pensions saving, and many more aspects.

Our business is expanding and our team of consultants is growing. The details below provide a short summary for some of our team of consultants.

Director Level

  • Dan Wainwright

    Commercial Director

    Prior to joining Zenith, Dan worked for several major actuarial consultancy and technology companies.  He has over 20 years-experience in the life insurance industry, and has led technology implementations, process reviews, and outsourcing agreements at major UK and International clients.  His recent focus has been on technology led finance transformation, identifying client needs and developing solutions to meet them.

    At Zenith, Dan is responsible for managing client relationships and helping the Zenith business grow, whilst ensuring clients receive the highest level of service.

  • Claire Farrelly

    Client Development Director

    Claire has extensive experience of the insurance industry, having held many senior leadership roles within professional services firms. She has over 30 years’ experience working with a wide range of financial services firms and although primarily based in the UK, Claire has also worked throughout Europe, Asia and the US. Within Zenith, Claire focuses on our clients’ needs and our growth strategy, to ensure that we build on our business success to date, and deliver exceptional service and solutions to our clients. She also provides strategic advice, challenge and support to our leadership team.

    Prior to Zenith Actuarial, Claire was a Managing Director and Consulting Actuary at Willis Towers Watson, for over 10 years.  During that time, she headed the South-West Europe Insurance Consulting & Technology team, led the Life Insurance sales and development function in EMEA and had global responsibility for several large multinational insurer relationships. Her many leadership roles and responsibilities have spanned across life, GI and technology businesses. Claire also held senior positions within EY and KPMG, where she gained experience across a wide range of actuarial advisory work, including statutory reporting, capital management, M&A, actuarial transformations and software implementations.

  • Andy Pennington

    Actuarial Director

    Prior to joining Zenith, Andy was previously the Chief Actuary and With-Profits Actuary for Guardian Assurance and was a key part of the management team in transforming Guardian to a closed book consolidator following its acquisition by Cinven, including the pricing and integration of several large annuity deals, large reinsurance deals, and the restructure of Guardian’s with-profits business.

    Andy currently holds Chief Actuary and With-Profit Actuary roles, and has a vast amount of experience in prudential/solvency reporting, financial reporting, insurance restructuring including reinsurance, cross-border work (European/worldwide), M&A, new business pricing.

    Andy specialises in Approved Person roles, M&A, restructuring and reinsurance arrangements.

  • Tim Bateman

    Actuarial Director

    Tim’s extensive experience covers working at senior positions in industry, at consultancies and within the UK regulator. Prior to joining Zenith he worked at the FCA, and before that as a Partner leading the Mazars UK business, and also a director at Towers Watson. His industry roles include acting as Finance Director and Appointed Actuary. His knowledge covers a wide range of aspects of actuarial and insurance business, including Chief Actuary and With-Profits Actuary, prudential and financial reporting, business restructuring, M&A, and pricing.

    Tim specialises in Approved Person roles, regulatory issues, M&A, plus actuarial and insurance projects.

  • Jeremy Nurse

    Actuarial Director

    Jeremy has over 35 years’ experience in the UK and European life and pensions markets and since 2001 has held various regulated roles for insurers domiciled in the UK, Ireland, Bermuda and Gibraltar, including several Chief Actuary roles as well as company director roles at previous employers including AIG and MetLife. In his most recent consulting role prior to joining Zenith in 2021, he specialised in advising on insurance company M&A transactions and other insurance regulatory work, including acting as a Skilled Person and an Independent Expert, in addition to holding several Approved Person / Chief Actuary roles. He has significant experience in the UK and other annuity and retirement markets, and has presented at several actuarial and other industry conferences.

    Jeremy specialises in Independent Expert work and roles, Approved Person / Chief Actuary roles, M&A, annuity business, including reinsurance, matching adjustment and equity release, plus extensive experience and variety of actuarial and insurance projects.

  • Stewart Gracie

    Actuarial Director

    Prior to joining Zenith, Stewart was Director of Finance Strategy at M&G with overall responsibility for financial and capital management across the M&G Group, including Prudential’s With Profits Fund. Prior to that Stewart was Prudential’s Chief Actuary.  He has significant experience in the UK annuity market and in the financial management of with-profits business.  Stewart also currently holds a With Profits Actuary role.

    Stewart specialises in Approved Person roles, capital optimisation and the financial management of with-profits business.

Senior Actuaries

  • Gemma Stonehouse

    Senior Actuary

    Gemma has worked in a number of UK insurance companies, including mutual organisations. Her experience covers Prudential and Financial reporting, including Solvency II, general Actuarial Function processes, and a wide variety of actuarial projects. Her previous roles have also included financial/actuarial transformation projects, including supporting the implementation of a large scale actuarial model change project. Whilst in Zenith Gemma has implemented a number of new business pricing and profitability projects, experience analysis, Solvency II, and M&A work.

    Gemma specialises in Prudential/Solvency reporting, Solvency II, new business strategy and product development and pricing/profitability, actuarial change projects, and M&A.

    To learn more about Gemma, read her Meet the Team post here.

  • James Harrison

    Senior Actuary

    James has over 20 years’ experience, including extensive life consulting experience. He has significant financial and solvency reporting and capital management experience.

    Prior to Zenith, he worked at VitalityLife and as its Chief Actuary had responsibility for overseeing its Actuarial Function and for the actuarial analysis and risk assessment relating to the solvency forecasts and stress and scenario testing. He therefore has extensive Solvency II, capital and risk management experience. He also led the IFRS 17 implementation programme and helped to steer the ALM and hedging strategy as its Strategic Projects Director. James is accustomed to interacting with senior stakeholders throughout the business, including at Board level.He spent more than 10 years at large consultancies, namely Towers Watson (now WTW), both in the UK and in Spain, and PWC. He has significant experience in embedded value and IFRS reporting, and financial reporting processes and controls, as well as M&A due diligence work.

  • Services that cover all aspects of actuarial work

    Through a combination of Senior Actuary roles, retained professional services, consulting projects, and outsourcing/co-sourcing options, we support our clients and their actuarial, risk and finance teams across a wide range of regulatory, product development, strategy and M&A, actuarial modelling and analysis projects.

    Read more
  • Technology

    We have developed a data management, analytics processing and results visualisation and extraction portal that we use for our client work and delivery. Our technology insights and experience allow us to utilise and develop this into wider Business Applications and analytics for our clients. These might be one-off developments or ongoing subscription analytics.

    Technology

Click on Insights to see our latest post - Solvency II Solution of the Year