The Intermediary – March 2025 - Flipbook - Page 71
I N P RO F I L E
Carnegie asks: “If you’re looking at a client’s endto-end wealth during retirement, why wouldn’t
you be looking at their housing wealth as you go
into that conversation?”
Despite positive trends, the ‘protection gap’
persists. Carnegie highlights the role of protection
as part of financial resilience, and that more must
be done to raise awareness of where it can help.
LV’s recent ‘Reaching Resilience’ study found
that, while working people are more optimistic
about their financial resilience compared with
2022, more than four in 10 households would
only be able to survive for up to three months
without an income. Meanwhile, 48% of workers
lack any form of protection cover, such as income
protection or critical illness.
Carnegie says: “LV= has a key role to play in
providing the products and services that can get
the right outcomes for members.”
This continues in the retirement space, where
more than half, according to LV’s ‘Wealth and
Wellbeing’ research, do not think they would have
enough income in retirement.
“There is a real education piece needed,”
Carnegie says. “Advisers already work hard to do
that, and we just need to keep pushing those key
messages across the industry.”
At the core
Looking back over her first year in a new role,
Carnegie is also proud of her work as a leader.
“It’s really important to me that the colleagues
around me are values-driven,” she says. “They are
really passionate to succeed for our members.
That’s really important to LV= as a mutual as well.”
Speaking in the lead up to International
Women’s Day on 8th March 2025, Carnegie also
points to the work done throughout her career
to ensure she, and other female employees,
had opportunities to succeed and play to their
strengths. With more to be done across financial
services, Carnegie highlights key elements that
contribute to success.
“I have been very lucky to have a number of
really supportive mentors,” she explains. “These
are individuals that have provided coaching, advice
and in some instances, they’ve provided those
opportunities to succeed. That person that has
faith in you, and who makes sure you recognise
those opportunities, is extremely important.”
To strengthen both the business and the sector,
Carnegie voices the importance of “nurturing
talent from all different backgrounds” and helping
those individuals recognise their own talents.
This includes employee-led networks across the
organisation, such as LV= Balance, which focuses
on supporting staff through the key milestones,
with a focus on gender diversity – such as
menopause, parental support, improving women’s
financial resilience, and investing in their careers.
Carnegie also speaks to the importance of
initiatives such as ‘reverse mentoring’, whereby
younger employees help senior leaders gain fresh
perspectives and tackle barriers they might not
realise are in place.
While Carnegie is clear about the need to keep
evolving to meet modern needs, this is based
on the foundations of LV’s original purpose and
values. These values tie in not only to delivering its
members a diverse and inclusive service and set of
products, but ensuring a strong internal culture.
Carnegie says: “We deliver our member-first
philosophy by delivering the right outcomes and
returns for our members. We also achieve that by
attracting the right talent within the organisation.
“At the heart of that is an inclusive, value-led
culture. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been here for 12
years. This means being inclusive in the products
and services we offer, but also creating an inclusive
environment where people want to come to work.”
Looking to the rest of the industry, Carnegie
says: “A lot has been done over the years, but
there’s always more that can be done to promote
diversity, equality and inclusion. Leaders and
businesses all have a role to play, whether as
advocates or providing opportunities to progress.”
The year ahead
The optimistic hope for 2025 is that market
turbulence will settle, rates reduce and stability
return, while investments continue to perform.
Even if all of this happens, the need for flexibility
and product innovation will remain.
Carnegie says: “Customers and advisers will
have ever-changing needs, be it from a digital
perspective, or their needs in a changing financial
market. Our proposition set means we are wellplaced for that, but innovation and investment will
always be key.”
Carnegie is looking forward to building on
the solid foundations of LV’s core proposition,
and progressing as a “thriving mutual delivering
fantastic outcomes and returns for its members.”
LV= has managed to return over £385m back
to members since 2011, and its aim is to continue
investing in technology and infrastructure. Most
important, Carnegie says, is to invest in the right
people, future-proofing the business.
Carnegie concludes: “Having been here for 12
years, I’ve never been as excited to be part of it as
I am now, and to be able to help lead the business
through these exciting times.
“Our members have given us a clear mandate
– they believe in our mutuality, and the best we
can do is create a good legacy, both for today’s
members and those in the future.” ●
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