Legal & General Share News (LGEN)

(ShareCast News) - Legal & General has poached Ernst & Young senior partner Jeff Davies to be its new chief financial officer.He will start in the spring, replacing Mark Gregory, who has agreed to stay on until the end of August to ensure a smooth handover.Currently a senior partner at the 'big four' accountancy firm, Davies leads EY's European risk and actuarial insurance services practice, having previously held a number of senior actuarial roles at Swiss Re Life & Health.His appointment has been approved by watchdogs Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.Chairman Sir John Kingman, said: "He has deep insurance experience and expertise, and will be an excellent addition to the group board as we take Legal & General forward on the next stage of our strategy of growth. Mark has been an outstanding group chief financial officer. I would like to thank him for agreeing to stay with Legal & General until the summer."Commenting, analyst Eamonn Flanagan at Shore Capital said he expect the announcement to be positively received by the market for a number of reasons, including the "relatively smooth" completion of the process, Davies' extensive experience of the life assurance world "which we view as critical given the nuances surrounding Legals' annuity book and Solvency II" and because Gregory is staying on for at least another eight months."The last point is crucial, in our view...we regard Mark very highly indeed, as does the market we believe, so to have him present to assist the coverage and delivery of another two set of results will provide significant comfort to investors regarding the hand-over period," Flanagan said.