Cathryn Riley, the former CEO of Norwich Union Healthcare and chairwoman of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), is among a trio of New Year’s Honours recipients from the financial services sector.
She is joined by EY global financial services leader Omar Ali in becoming a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), while Money and Mental Health Policy Institute chief executive Helen undy has become an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
Cathryn Riley CBE
Riley (pictured) has spent more than 30 years in the insurance and financial services industry including leading Norwich Union healthcare.
She had a three-year stint with Bupa as a general manager in the 1990s.
Following that, after a two-year spell at CGU Insurance, Riley moved to Norwich Union where she eventually became CEO of its healthcare operation from 2004 to 2005 before spending almost another decade within the Aviva business including as group chief operations director.
She has since taken on a series of non-executive director (NED) positions including four years with the FSCS from 2021 to 2025 with time as chairwoman of the regulator.
At present she is NED and chairwoman of the remuneration committee at Nucleus Financial and also an NED of GreenPlace which is aiming to reduce the climate impact of the property industry.
“I am truly delighted and proud to have received a CBE in today’s New Years Honours List,” Riley said on LinkedIn.
“I am so grateful to all those who supported me throughout my career as well as in receiving this award. I am humbled to have been recognised for my contribution to business leadership and inclusion.
“Supporting those around me, especially women in business, has given me such pleasure in life. And my thanks also to The Eve Appeal, a fabulous charity I am proud to support and encourage all to do likewise.”
Omar Ali CBE
Ali will also become a CBE and has spent 25 years at EY, beginning as an executive partner in 2001 and is now global financial services leader.
He is an adviser to the board at the Department for Business and Trade, and chairman of the board of financial and professional services lobby group TheCityUK.
Ali is also a member of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) finance, audit and risk committee.
Helen Undy OBE
Undy will become an OBE and was one of the founding members of the Money and Mental Health Institute in 2016 as head of external affairs and has been chief executive since 2018.
The charity’s mission is to build a world in which the vicious cycle of money and mental health problems is broken.
She is also a member of HM Treasury’s financial inclusion committee and previously worked on campaigns for a range of charities.