His role will be taken temporarily by director David Barral who becomes executive chairman until a successor is found.

It is not yet known where Mr Self is heading next.

Mr Self joined Suffolk Life in 2003, becoming managing director in 2013 and became group CEO in January 2019. He was appointed to the FCA Smaller Business Practitioner Panel in October 2020 and represents the life and pensions sector within the FCA. 

Mr Self joined the firm after completing a first degree in oceanography at Southampton University and completed his MBA from Cranfield University in 2010. He was made a director of Suffolk Life in the same year initially as operations director and subsequently as product and operations in 2012.

He became managing director of Suffolk Life in 2013 and during 2015 was also CCO of Cofunds, a sister company within L&G. He led the strategic review during 2015 which lead to the sale to Curtis Banks in January 2016. 

The company said it was starting the search process to appoint a new chief executive straight away. 

New executive chairman Mr Barral has worked in financial services for over 40 years and has previously been CEO of Aviva UK and Ireland Life. Previous positions at Aviva included sales director, marketing director and chief operating officer. He is also currently non-executive director chair of Rowanmoor Group and non-executive director of The Pensions Superfund.

Mr Barral has also previously had non-executive roles as chair of Embark Group, senior independent director of LV Group, non-executive director of LV General Insurance, independent customer champion at Quilter and chair of Virgin Wines.

Mr Barral said: "On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Will for the significant contribution he has made to Curtis Banks and wish him the very best for the future. Whilst the market backdrop remains difficult, we have the right bench strength to navigate these markets and take advantage of the opportunities ahead of us. 

“We look forward to updating our shareholders on our financial and operational performance at our interim results on 8 September."