HSBC Life UK’s Mike Furniss has left the firm to “pursue external opportunities”, Mortgage Solutions understands.
Furniss started his career in wealth management and private banking in 1995 and joined HSBC Life in 2014 to launch new products into the UK adviser market.
In his role as head of protection distribution, Furniss led the field-based and remote distribution teams across the UK and managed strategic distribution relationships for the subsidiary.
Richard Waters, currently national account manager at HSBC Life UK, will become interim head of production distribution.
He has worked at the firm for almost 31 years, initially joining as an insurance broker in 1993 before becoming a sales manager in 2005.
From 2009 to 2018, Waters took on various product manager roles before becoming senior business development manager (BDM) in 2019 and then national account manager in 2021.
A HSBC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Mike Furniss has left HSBC Life UK to pursue external opportunities and we would like to thank him for his contribution to the business.
“Richard Waters, currently national account manager at HSBC Life UK, will act as head of protection distribution in the interim until a permanent replacement is made.”
The company is a subsidiary of HSBC and was founded in the UK in 1988.
It offers insurance services to meet protection and investment management needs.
In February, HSBC Life made a mental illness underwriting change to reduce stigma.
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
