Stephen Gay (pictured) has announced that he will step down as director general of the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA) after a year at the organisation.

It has been confirmed that Gay will take up the position of director of life, savings and protection at the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

John Gummer, chairman of AIFA, said, ‘Stephen’s leadership has been crucial to AIFA’s improvement over the past year.’

He continued, ‘During a difficult economic year for members, AIFA and AMI (Association of Mortgage Intermediaries) have continued to provide a strong and essential voice for their professions.

‘AIFA has reduced its costs, while increasing revenues, and has been improving operations and governance.’

Earlier this week, AIFA announced that it had bolstered its management team and named Chris Hannant as a new policy director.

Meanwhile, director general of the ABI Otto Thoresen said that Gay’s appointment would help its work on pensions, saving and protection.

‘This is an absolutely crucial time for the industry and we have a unique opportunity to change the UK’s low saving habit through the introduction of automatic enrolment.’

Thoresen claimed, ‘If we get this right we could change the way people save and protect their futures for good and I know Stephen is absolutely focused on helping the industry rise to this challenge.’