Board of Directors

William (Bill) Strauss - Chairman

Bill founded FIT in 1990, and has more than 30 years of experience in the life assurance software industry. He was the founder of CAPSCO, the first on-line, real-time life assurance system in 1973.

He has vast experience of systems implementations, design and consulting in the banking, insurance and exchange trading sectors. Bill provides strategic management and corporate governance leadership.

Bill is on the board of other companies including those in the voice recognition, educational software and commodities trading markets.

Lord Gilbert - Director

Lord Gilbert served as a Government Minister in the UK under three Prime Ministers. He was Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1974 – 1975), Minister of Transport (1975 – 1976) and Minister of State for Defence (1976 – 1979 and 1997 – 1999).

He has been member of a number of Select Committees of the House of Commons, including Expenditure, Defence and Trade and Industry.

Ralph Land - Director

Ralph Land chaired the UNICE Task Force on Enlargement in Brussels until recently. He is a member of the International Strategy Board of ICL, chairman of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce, and of the British-Romanian Chamber of Commerce. Having previously been responsible for the East European operations of ICL, Rank Xerox and Rolls Royce, Mr Land now serves on a number of advisory boards including American Phoenix Life and Reinsurance, the British Know-How Fund, and the East European Trade Council. He is a consultant on business with Central and Eastern Europe and frequent commentator on radio and TV for these regions.

He was awarded an OBE in 1986 and a CBE in 1996 for services to Exports and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the British Computer Society.

Mike Arnold - Director

Michael Arnold joined Hymans Robertson (a Milliman Global firm of independent actuarial firms) in 1971 and is currently Principal at Milliman UK, the insurance wing of the firm. He acts as the Appointed Actuary to a number of UK insurance companies, assisting in the actuarial management of 'with profits' and unit linked business, including product design and valuation considerations and financing reassurance arrangements.

He has worked as a consultant and as an Independent Actuary on a number of assignments involved in the reconstruction of the UK life assurance industry. Mr. Arnold is a former Chairman of the Association of Consulting Actuaries.

Peter Skelton - Company Secretary

Peter Skelton has been company secretary since the formation of the FIT Group, and holds directorships and other offices in a number of companies. His most recent experience is as an inspector of and advisor to firms of Actuaries and Accountants, on behalf of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, in their application of the Financial Services Act and the Financial Services Authority's regulations. He represented the Institute on the FSA's policy advisory committee for independent regulators.

He has worked as a finance director of an Insurance Company and head of management services in a Lloyd's broker with widespread other board and consulting appointments in industry.

Frank Ward - Director of Client Services

Frank joined FIT in 1999, after nine years in IT at the head office of UK Life Insurer Norwich Union, where he specialised in pre-sales systems for the full range of Life and Pensions products.

Frank brings an invaluable mix of technological and business skills, and has managed LIFEfit implementations in Britain, Western and Central Europe and Africa. He is passionate about enabling life and pensions to do more business for less money by exploiting the unique flexibility of the LIFEfit application.

Frank is married with two children, and joined the board of FIT in September 2010.

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