However, the amount of time and care and consideration that she, the board and other executives gave to ease the transition, explain the history of the business and make him feel comfortable to take up the torch was incredibly helpful, he says.

Having got to know Ballantyne in the past six months, Weston they are very different people and he can only be himself.

“I’m, right from the outset, trying to make sure there’s a continuation in terms of the values and the culture which I think is core to the brand, but over time as I gain an understanding of the market I will work with the executive team to come up with - what does that next stage of growth for the company look like?”

He has spent his first three or four months externally focused, spending time with advisers who are core to the Partners Life business model, as well as getting to know regulators and key business partners and getting their insights about the business and the market.

“We’re now entering the stage where as a management team we’re putting together our thoughts about what are the opportunities in the market, how do we find those unserved needs and do we have the right capabilities in place to be able to work on that today or do we need to build it?”

He says the Partners Life culture is incredibly strong and the values such as celebrating the individual, being generous by nature, and doing the right thing are very grounded.