PATRICK Gale, who last week stepped down as head of Aegon’s independent financial advice business, has been appointed non-executive chairman of financial research company Defaqto. He succeeds Rupert Pennant-Rea.
Gale was chief executive of Sesame prior to joining life and pensions company Aegon in Edinburgh. He became executive chairman of its loss-making Positive Solutions and Origen businesses to prepare for the switch from commission to fees-based selling of products which came into effect under the retail distribution review (RDR) at the beginning of the year.
He previously worked in senior roles at HBOS, Just Retirement and Mysis.
Zahid Bilgrami, Defaqto’s chief executive, said: “He is a highly respected financial services practitioner with technology experience. As a financial research and software company, Patrick’s experience and knowledge in these areas will be incredibly valuable.”
Gale said: “The RDR and the evolving regulatory landscape play to Defaqto’s core strengths and present many new opportunities for us to deepen our relationships with our clients.”