Mark Gregory, Legal & General group chief financial officer, has informed the board of his intention to retire from the group on 31 January 2017.

Gregory (pictured) has been with Legal & General for 17 years and for the last seven years he has served as an executive director on the board, initially as chief executive officer of the savings business and subsequently as the group chief financial officer.

He will remain as the Group CFO until his successor is appointed. The Nominations Committee will be commencing a search for a successor.

Gregory said: “I’ve really enjoyed my time with Legal & General and the Company is in great shape. My time since becoming Group CFO has coincided with a period of significant regulatory change resulting from the introduction of Solvency II and it is pleasing to have secured approval for all our applications.

“During my long career with Legal & General, I have been fortunate to have had a wide variety of roles with the Group from running large functions such as our UK customer services, to being CEO of our Savings business and finally as Group CFO. Whilst a difficult decision, I have decided that next January is a good time for me to be retiring from the Group. In the meantime, I look forward to presenting the full-year results in March and helping to deliver the strategy over the coming year.”

John Stewart, chairman of Legal & General, added: “Mark was appointed to the board at the start of 2009 at what was a very difficult time for all companies in the financial services sector.

“The success Legal & General has achieved since then is in no small part due to the contribution that Mark has made, both as an effective executive and as an astute and insightful board colleague.”