If I Knew Then: Graham Jones

Graham Jones is currently core business director at Bristol-based insurance company SunLife. 

Graham joined SunLife in 2006 as Head of Finance; his role has grown considerably since then, with responsibility for SunLife’s Core Over 50 and Later Life Business.  

Prior to Sunlife, he was Financial Controller at SunLife’s parent company AXA Life’s Distribution business for four years and before that spent seven years at Natwest Life & Regulated Sales where he held various roles including Head of Business Performance and Financial Reporting. Graham lives in Clevedon with his wife Sarah and two daughters now as their eldest daughter has flown the nest.

How did you start work at SunLife? 

I joined SunLife 10 years ago as Head of Finance. Since then I’ve performed a variety of roles with a move into general management in 2009.  I moved within AXA a few months after identifying the types of future role I wanted – essentially autonomy, the chance to see the results of your work, with room to develop and grow the role.  When the opportunity arose as Head of Finance I knew it was exactly what I wanted. 

If you knew then what you know now, what mistakes might you have avoided? 

Pick the battles you know you can win.  Much of this can be down to timing – we launched a great Savings Product in 2014, six years after trying and failing to get support for it.  What was different? Full Group support for diversification backed by the investment budget to do so.  Knowing what environment you need in order to allow your idea to be given a decent hearing will help enormously in knowing when to raise your head above the parapet.

Identify the relationships you need to succeed and work on them continually – trust can be hard to build and easily eroded. Many years ago on joining AXA my key customer – the IFA Director was incredibly hard to work with until I understood he and my boss had a dreadful relationship. I discussed what the IFA Director wanted from me and what I wanted from him. Our relationship immediately started to improve and was working well within three months.

Commit to action publicly – it massively increases your motivation to deliver and is incredibly energising for you and your team.

What advice would you have given yourself when starting out? 

Don’t allow fear to limit you.

If you knew then what you know now, would you still be sitting there? 

Absolutely. I’ve had really great and varied experiences since joining SunLife (and before that AXA and NatWest Group) working for bosses that have taken significant risks in helping me develop.  Now I work with a great bunch of people in a fantastic, market-leading business that’s continuing to grow and create the future – what’s not to like?

What do you know now that you didn’t know then? 

Too many people succeed on the basis of ‘looking good’ rather than ‘doing good.’  You need both so never assume your track record speaks for itself – senior management are generally time poor and all too often fall for spin (at least for long enough to scupper or delay your chances).

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received so far? 

Be true to yourself and those around you.

What is your business highlight? 

There are a number I could list but a recent one would be growing market share in 2015 (in a growing market) with every sales channel significantly beating target. 

What is your business low point? 

Failing to launch a new savings proposition in 2008; we’ve since done this but others have learned from my mistakes. 

What keeps you awake?  

Ensuring our customers continue to receive a great and value adding service – during the sales process, at claim and at every interaction between those events. 

What’s changed from when you started out? 

The pace of change – I don’t think it’s just my age! Every year seems more packed.

What’s still on your to-do list? 

From a work perspective, building a market leading funeral and later life proposition that customers truly engage with. On a personal note, watching Exeter win the Aviva Premiership.

What’s next for SunLife?

Building significant volume outside of the core Over 50s product.

Read more: If I Knew Then: Col Needham