About

Who we are, and what we do

As the market has evolved over this period, the range of entities considered by AKG has expanded. AKG has a wide range of skill sets within its operations. This includes accounting, actuarial, corporate finance, IT and market intelligence experience, to deliver a wide range of appropriate professional capability.

Today AKG’s core purpose is in the provision of financial analysis and review services and in the delivery of key value added financial information to support the wider financial services sector and its customers.

AKG's influence and footprint across the market is considerable and it has few if any competitors with the same structure of skills and approach.

Meet the team

Gary Bown

Chairman

Gary (BSc, FIA) manages AKG’s primary ratings and best advice activities.

He has significant experience in the life insurance industry, working in a wide variety of areas for both insurers and consultancies. This has included key roles within Commercial Union, Mercers and Lincoln. Gary joined AKG in 1998 with a specialist concentration in best advice, financial strength assessment and company rating. He is responsible in particular for profiling and reporting on the majority of UK life companies.

As AKG has evolved, this focus has widened to include the assessment of offshore life companies, platform providers and discretionary fund managers.

He was appointed as Chairman of AKG in January 2009.

Guy Vanner

Managing Director

Guy (BA, MSc) graduated from University of Birmingham, before going on to become visiting Commonwealth Universities Scholar to Nigeria. He developed an area of research expertise with regard to social dynamics in industrialising economies and lectured in industrial sociology.

Guy joined AKG in 1992 from this background in social research. His initial role being to add social analysis to AKG’s pioneering research into issues such as pension lapse rates, originally produced for the Securities and Investment Board (SIB).

Following this, Guy moved into AKG’s wider activities, developing and promoting product and company analysis within the UK financial services industry.

In particular this activity includes the development and application of non-financial criteria in company assessment. He was appointed as Managing Director of AKG in January 2009.

Matt Ward

Communications Director

Matt attended the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe before joining AXA Equity & Law in 1993 where he spent five years working in the Executive Pension department.

In 1998, Matt joined independent product research company, The Research Department Ltd, which subsequently became Defaqto Ltd. Matt worked at Defaqto for over 15 years in a range of research roles. Through these roles Matt has acquired an extensive knowledge of individual and corporate pensions, in particular he has closely followed the development of the SIPP and retirement income markets. Matt has also spent time studying the UK platform market and in more recent years has closely followed the emergence of outsourced investment solutions targeted at financial advisers, including multi-asset managed funds and discretionary fund management (DFM) services.

Matt joined AKG in July 2014 to take on the role of Head of Communications.

Dale Johnston

Operations Director

Dale graduated in Economics from the University of Liverpool, before joining PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for 13 years during which time he qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA, CGMA).

During his time with PwC, Dale held many operational and client facing roles, working in a wide range of functions spanning across business unit level to global. This experience provided Dale with the comprehensive knowledge and technical skills that were required for the CIMA qualification.

Dale joined AKG in 2018 as a Company Information Analyst with a primary focus of delivering financial strength ratings in addition to the management of key systems and process improvements. In 2021, Dale was appointed as Operations Director.

John Morley

Company Information Analyst

John (ACIB) is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, with over 20 years’ experience in financial services, most recently in the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Corporate Banking division, having worked originally for NatWest prior to its acquisition by RBS.

He has held various managerial and director roles within banking, across Corporate & Structured Finance, Real Estate Finance, Corporate Relationship Management, and in other operational management positions.

John joined AKG in 2010 as Company Information Analyst, to assist in the development and ongoing provision of ratings in AKG’s expanding universe of entity types; in particular developing a key role in the assessment of specialist investment providers and platform operations.

Rachel McKnight

Company Information Analyst

Rachel (ACMA, CGMA) graduated in Economics from the University of Leeds, before working for the Office for National Statistics (ONS). She later studied Applied Statistics as a post-graduate at the University of Greenwich, and is a Chartered Management Accountant.

While at the ONS, Rachel worked in turn on the production of GDP and the National Accounts, the RPI, CPI and publications such as Social Trends.

Rachel joined AKG in 2013, with the remit of broadening the spread of companies covered by AKG’s profiles. In particular, Rachel has developed non-insured SIPP operator assessments, and more recently the DFM assessments.

"Our ratings reflect our customer-focused assessment of an organisation’s ability to maintain its operational capability to meet customer needs. And it’s why AKG’s ratings and reports are designed for ease of use by advisers who are working on behalf of their clients when considering an entity’s financial strength before placing their assets with them."

Gary Bown Chairman

Better outcomes for all

AKG is part of Fintel, the leading fintech and support services business.

Operating at the heart of retail financial services, Fintel provides technology, expertise and insights to help the market operate more effectively and inspire better outcomes for all.

Learn more

Synonymous with Financial Strength, AKG has specialised in the provision of assessment, ratings, information and market assistance for over 30 years