Alan Knowles is stepping down from his position as chairman of the Protection Distributor’s Group (PDG) after three and a half years leading the trade body.
Neil McCarthy, who retired from LifeQuote at the end of 2021 after 35 years in the protection industry, has taken over as acting chairman of the PDG until the end of this year.
Knowles (pictured), who is also managing director of advice firm Cura Financial Services, told Health & Protection that making signposting a widely discussed word within the industry has been a key achievement of his time at the helm.
“That whole piece around signposting is the what I am most proud of and has made huge impact on the industry,” Knowles said.
“We worked with the founding members of the Access to Insurance working party to help create the BIBA signposting service so that people who are declined protection, people with disabilities and so on, can still find an option for protection.
“Making signposting a part our industry – not just for people with pre-existing conditions but almost anyone who talks about financial services has been key – so that is not okay to walk past protection.
“Advisers should write it or refer it but don’t ignore it,” he added.
Growing membership
Touching on his reasons for stepping down, Knowles pointed out he has a young family and a growing business and three and a half years is a long time to be at the helm – a tenure in which the PDG has grown in membership.
PDG also announced this morning that Vita, The Right Mortgage and Radcliffe & Co Independent Financial Advisers have all joined as members.
The group, whose members solely consist of protection advice firms, began in 2016 and now has over 20 member firms including Assured Futures, Drewberry, Future Proof, LifeSearch, London & Country and Sesame Bankhall Group.
“Actually I’ve done a lot with the PDG,” Knowles added.
“I’ve incorporated the groups so we’ve got a proper membership structure now. We’ve doubled in size as a group. Obviously we’ve grown in influence and we’ve got lots of projects ongoing.
“I think it will be good to see someone else come in and take it to that next step. I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved and what we’ve done and actually it will be good to see someone else drive that next two or three years with it.”
