23 April '03 - Candidate's Statement - K.R.H. Allen

For the past two years I have served on the Committee of the Equitable Members Action Group (EMAG) and am familiar with the situation facing ELAS policyholders. A visit to our website will show the extent of EMAG's research and continuing activities on members' behalf. There is widespread concern that our Society's management is inscrutable and distant from its members. For instance, with-profits annuitants such as myself have received only partial explanations for the arbitrary decision to slash our annuities. The rectification scheme for GAR policyholders is generally opaque. Mis-selling claims have been spurned or devalued. Intended changes in the Society's articles scorn policyholder democracy. Large sums of money have been spent on public relations, obscuring facts and limiting debate. Worries about management competence mount, capped by the bungled action against Ernst & Young. There must now be genuine doubts over the management's effectiveness in seeking compensation from the Authorities after the Penrose Report. Considerable efforts by Action Groups to identify years of regulatory failure and bring it to the attention of members of Parliament and the media must be followed through, not least for annuitants facing an irreparable collapse in expectations. I will aim to ensure this is done.

Non-executive directors have a primary role in monitoring and rectifying executive performance. While bound by board confidentiality, they can only undertake their task effectively if they have full access to information, including independent sources. If elected, I intend to seek ideas and opinions from membership Action Groups, and ensure the interests of policyholders are better served. Finally, the voting form automatically gives proxies to the chairman if votes are unutilised. If you wish to ensure your votes counts fully, you must use all your votes either for or against each candidate, and not leave any votes open.