Benefact Group appoints Mark Bennett as CFO

Benefact Group, the parent company of Ecclesiastical Insurance and EdenTree, has appointed Mark Bennett as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). 

Mark has been acting CFO, alongside his role of Group Chief Actuary, since Denise Cockrem’s retirement in July 2024.

He will step into the role formally in January, when he will join both the Benefact Group and Ecclesiastical Insurance Boards, pending regulatory approval.

The appointment follows an extensive search internally and externally for the charitable-owned Group, which includes the specialist insurer Ecclesiastical and the responsible and sustainable asset manager EdenTree.

Mark Hews, Group Chief Executive Officer of Benefact Group, said: “Mark was the standout candidate for the role. During his tenure as Acting Group CFO, he has made remarkable contributions across the Group and his leadership has been instrumental, not least in developing our Group’s new financial and capital plans.

“Mark’s career progression with the Group over the past 17 years is an inspiring story. At Benefact Group we offer careers with purpose, and we support and reward our talented people. I’m delighted to be able to appoint Mark and he will continue to drive our success in his new role.”

Mark joined the former Ecclesiastical Insurance Group as an actuarial student in 2007. He progressed through the ranks, graduating from the Group’s leadership development programme, to lead various actuarial teams before overseeing reinsurance, risk and compliance and investments. He led the Group’s regulatory internal model approval in 2018 and has overseen several group wide initiatives that have been key in unlocking profitable growth.

In his new role, he will be responsible for the Group Finance, Risk, Actuarial and Premises teams at Benefact Group and will spearhead strategic initiatives that support the Group’s ambitious long-term plans to grow its business and reach its target of raising £250million for good causes.

Benefact Group will now start recruitment for the role of Group Chief Actuary, who will report into Mark as Group CFO.

Benefact Group is a group of specialist financial services businesses, comprising insurance, investments and broking and advisory, united by a common purpose to give all available profits to charity and good causes.

It is owned by a charity, the Benefact Trust, and is the third biggest corporate donor in the UK.

To learn more about Benefact Group’s unique purpose and the causes it helps visit: benefactgroup.com

ENDS