About Us

M&G Advisory Services exists to provide expert consultancy services to friendly societies and other mutual insurers, their directors and executives on regulatory and constitutional matters, including transfers of engagements, corporate governance and amendments to rules. By specialising in the mutual sector and keeping our overheads to a minimum, we provide our services at a price that all societies will find competitive and even the smallest societies can afford.

M&G is a joint venture between Richard Martin who retired from the Financial Conduct Authority in 2014 after 42 years as a regulator of friendly societies and John Gilbert who has advised friendly societies and mutual insurers at the law firm Hogan Lovells for nearly 30 years. Between us we have over 70 years’ experience in the sector and have been involved in most of the major transactions involving mutual insurers over the last few decades.

In particular,

Richard has worked at the FCA and its predecessor regulators on nearly every friendly society transfer of engagements under the Friendly Societies Act 1992, which has given him a unique insight into all aspects of the law and regulation of friendly societies. His direct responsibilities at the regulator also covered corporate governance and change of control applications under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

As well as working on numerous of transfers of engagements, John was the lead legal advisor to the sector on Project Chrysalis and on the Mutuals Deferred Shares Act 2015. His wide experience in the sector has included the incorporation of registered societies, s166 investigations into corporate governance and the drafting of the current rules of many societies both large and small. He is a member of the Regulatory Committee of the Association of Financial Mutuals.

M&G recognises that small friendly societies have no less need of high quality advice than larger societies but that they do not have the budgets to afford the hourly rates charged by larger advisory practices. M&G offer unparalleled expertise and experience but at a reasonable price: we operate from our own homes and concentrate on the area we know best: mutual insurers. We are a partnership of two individuals: we do not delegate work to less knowledgeable assistants and we carry no management overhead. Although we advise on regulation, we ourselves are not a regulated firm because we do not carry out any activities regulated under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 or the Legal Services Act 2007. M&G is an associate member of the Association of Financial Mutuals.