Legal & General has appointed Scott Wheway as its new chair, taking over from Sir John Kingman, who has served on the board for nine years.  

The financial services giant says Wheway will join its board on 2 January as an independent non-executive director and chair designate. He will succeed Kingman at its annual meeting on 21 May. 

Wheway is currently chair of Scottish Widows and a non-executive director at Lloyds Banking Group. 

The veteran has also served as chair at Centrica and AXA UK. 

As an executive, his senior posts include chief executive of Best Buy Europe and managing director of Boots. 

At L&G, he will head a FTSE 100-listed firm, valued at £13.4bn, which manages a range of assets, spanning mortgages, pensions, insurance and other investments. The group has £1.2trn assets under management around the world.   

L&G senior independent director Henrietta Baldock led the search for the firm’s new chair.  

She says: “As well as being a great fit for L&G’s culture and values, Scott brings an impressive track record of commercial success in both executive and non-executive roles across a range of industries, including in markets that are central to our growth strategy.” 

Wheway adds he is pleased to join one of the UK’s “most eminent and consequential companies,” adding he would look “to accelerate the delivery of the group’s strategy and further enhance the value L&G generates for all of its stakeholders”. 

The business appointed António Simões as group chief executive in July 2023, taking over from Sir Nigel Wilson, who led it for more than a decade. 

Simões adds the Wheway’s “focus on customers, operational expertise, and experience leading growth businesses is well-aligned to our priorities, and I am also looking forward to drawing on his broad financial services insight to drive further progress and momentum on our strategy”.