Dunbar director moves on to IFA operation

Allied Dunbar marketing director Jerry Grayburn has quit the life assurance company after four years, to become a director of parent company BAFS.

BAFS, which owns Allied Dunbar, Eagle Star and Threadneedle Asset Management, is pooling the independent financial advisors (IFAs) services of all its companies into one division headed by Grayburn, who began a review of IFA operations in July.

The news comes as BAFS and British Airways are poised to sign a deal offering own-label financial service products to BA customers, These include PEPs, life assurance, pensions and home and motor insurance products.

Grayburn became marketing director in 1992 after he was promoted from operations director (marketing). His division aims to gain ten per cent share of the IFA market by 2001 (it now has two per cent). Sources say the company is actively seeking to buy an IFA brand to help it achieve greater share.

BAFS is understood to have made the move after a hostile reaction from IFAs who were concerned that Allied Dunbar and Eagle Star were undercutting sales of pensions and life products with direct sales operations.

The IFA arm is the latest merger development at BAFS. Last year, Marketing Week revealed plans to merge operations of the three financial service companies (MW November 10 1995) and also that Allied Dunbar’s salesforce would test the market for Eagle Star general insurance products.

Last week, Allied Dunbar announced it was to rebrand its trusts as Threadneedle Asset Management. Threadneedle is now BAFS’ retail investment brand.

Grayburn will be replaced by marketing operations director David Sims.