Phil Sargent
Finance Business Partner.
Project Accountant.Builder of systems that actually work.
Senior finance executive delivering strategic insight, project portfolio leadership, and custom-built solutions across global insurance. Currently at MS Amlin — managing a £100m+ portfolio of 100+ projects.
Career
Over two decades of elite-level finance leadership across insurance, logistics, and production — always at the intersection of finance, technology, and strategic change.
Finance Business Partner — IT & Change
Part of MS&AD Insurance Group — a global top-10 insurance holding company headquartered in Tokyo. MS Amlin operates across Lloyd’s, UK, Europe, Bermuda, Middle East and Asia. Phil has visited MS&AD Group HQ in Tokyo, representing Finance at an international level.
Phil serves as the trusted Finance Business Partner to MS Amlin’s IT & Change function — operating at the most senior level, advising the CFO and CIO, and sitting as a key member of the leadership boards that shape the organisation’s technology and change strategy. His financial intelligence has been central to some of the most significant investment and rationalisation decisions the business has made.
He manages and develops a team of three finance professionals, and has represented MS Amlin Finance directly at the MS&AD Insurance Group Headquarters in Tokyo.
Landmark Achievements
- FIT — Finance IT Tool (flagship achievement): Phil designed and built the FIT from scratch — a fully automated project reporting and consolidation system built entirely in Excel and VBA. It consolidates 100+ projects monthly, produces portfolio-level reporting for MS&AD Group Head Office in Tokyo and across multiple Legal Entities, and incorporates a sophisticated cost recharge model. A custom solution that rivals enterprise software at a fraction of the cost — built, owned, and maintained entirely by Phil.
- Cloud Migration Programme: Acting as the key finance stakeholder on MS Amlin’s strategic cloud migration — transitioning infrastructure from on-premise data centres to the cloud. Providing financial oversight, cost modelling, and executive-level reporting across the full programme lifecycle.
- Total Cost of Ownership Analysis: Delivered a comprehensive TCO analysis across the full application estate, broken down by Legal Entity — giving senior stakeholders the clearest view they had ever had of application costs and enabling informed decisions on rationalisation and capital allocation.
- Change Portfolio Reporting Framework: Designed and implemented the end-to-end Change Portfolio reporting process — introducing governance controls, eliminating errors, and materially increasing the speed and quality of executive decision-making.
- Project Cost Tracking Tool: Built a bespoke tool giving Project Managers direct visibility and control over their financials — automating previously manual processes and generating real-time reports for all stakeholders.
- Capitalisation & IAS 38: Delivered a new capitalisation capture process fully aligned with IAS 38 policies — improving technical accuracy and audit readiness across the group.
- Resource & Demand Forecasting: Created a sophisticated resource project tracker monitoring users against projects, workstreams, and tasks — with forward-looking demand forecasting capability built in.
FP&A Senior Analyst
Senior analytical role partnering Finance to Business Change, IT, and Operations. Annual budgets, quarterly forecasts, long-term planning, and high-quality MI for management teams.
- Streamlined monthly project financial reporting: reduced the close cycle by 4 days and absorbed 1 headcount through process redesign
- Improved Project Portfolio Analysis and Business Change MI — making data more actionable at every level of the organisation
- Improved the Capitalisation process and updated policies with the technical accounting team
- Redesigned the Group headcount and expense budget process for greater accuracy and efficiency
Global FP&A — Systems & Information
Fixed-term contract overseeing EMEA Finance Systems Reporting and managing the expense allocations model across AIG’s EMEA operations.
- Built the full EMEA expense allocations model from scratch
- Redesigned the reconciliation process between systems, eliminating a persistent source of error
- Led Project Finance for the decommission of the Cognos reporting system
- Streamlined the team’s month-end process — significant efficiency gains delivered quickly
Group Expense Accountant & Business Partner
Partnered multiple senior budget holders across Operations, IT, HR, Marketing, and the CEO office. Managed group consolidation of global expenses totalling $700m and delivered executive-level MI to the Group Executive Committee.
- Redesigned the reporting packs — adopted across the business for their clarity and usability
- Core member of the General Ledger Finance system replacement project — designed key reports used globally
- Designed an improved consolidated expenses capture process — enhanced analysis and faster close
- Improved headcount monitoring, delivering significantly better employee cost analysis
Assistant Management Accountant
Partnered Operations, Warehouses, Property, and FDRC subsidiary. Monthly reporting, income statements, balance sheets, property portfolio monitoring, and full annual planning cycle.
- Led cost-saving initiatives during the 2008 economic downturn — contributed directly to strategic decisions on port operations at a critical time
- Reduced month-end hours significantly through a suite of automated, purpose-built spreadsheet tools
- Redesigned Monthly Budget Holder packs to substantially enhance information quality
Management Accountant & IT Co-ordinator
Sole finance professional on site, managing 2 administration staff. Activity-based costing, budgeting, forecasting, payroll, and full site financial management.
- Redesigned the payroll and bonus process — absorbed 1 headcount and reduced workload by 3.5 days per week
- Reduced period-end turnaround by 5 days
- Created a Stock Check reconciliation process delivering significant efficiency improvements
Management Accountant
Early-career management accounting — where Phil built the foundational discipline in budgeting, reporting, and financial controls that would underpin two decades of progressively senior finance leadership.
Qualifications
CFAIO
Where finance meets artificial intelligence.
Chief Finance AI Officer
Phil isn’t just a finance professional who uses AI tools — he’s building the infrastructure for how finance and artificial intelligence intersect. CFAIO.com is Phil’s personal AI project: a platform exploring how large language models, automation, and intelligent tooling can transform the way finance professionals work.
Drawing from his experience building bespoke financial tools at MS Amlin — and his role as an early adopter of every major AI platform — Phil has developed a unique perspective on where AI adds genuine value in finance, and where the hype falls short.
CFAIO is part research, part product, part community — a space for finance professionals who want to stay ahead of the curve rather than get left behind by it.
Interests
Outside of finance — what drives Phil.
Strength & Fitness
Phil trains 5 days a week at a private gym, with a focused programme built around strength and long-term physical performance. Fitness isn’t a hobby — it’s a discipline. The same mindset that builds financial systems that work builds a body built to last.
Technology & AI
An early adopter by instinct and necessity. Phil has been building with technology — from Excel VBA tools to AI-powered workflows — long before it became fashionable. He runs CFAIO, follows every major model release, and thinks deeply about where AI genuinely transforms work.
Building Things
Whether it’s a complex financial model, an automated reporting tool, or a new AI workflow — Phil’s default mode is to build. He instinctively reaches for a better solution when the existing one is inefficient, and he has the technical skills to make it real.
Tools & Technology
Phil works across a broad range of enterprise and AI platforms — as a power user, not a casual one.
Over 20 years Phil has worked with a wide range of financial, project management, and enterprise systems — from large ERP platforms to specialist reporting and portfolio tools used across global insurance.
He is an expert-level Microsoft Excel user — building advanced models, VBA macros, and full automation solutions used at scale. His FIT tool at MS Amlin manages reporting across 100+ projects and is used by the Tokyo HQ.
Phil is also a serious AI practitioner — integrating AI into his daily workflows across analysis, writing, research, and system-building. He uses multiple leading AI platforms professionally and builds AI-powered tools and products.
Looking for Senior Finance Expertise?
With 20+ years of CIMA-qualified experience across insurance, logistics, and global organisations — and a track record of building tools, leading teams, and driving executive-level decisions — Phil is available for select consulting and advisory engagements.
If you need a Finance Business Partner who can step in at a senior level, a Project Accountant who will bring real control to a complex portfolio, or a systems thinker who will build something that actually works — let’s talk.
Get In TouchContact
Phil is open to conversations about senior finance roles, consulting, and AI in finance.
Let’s Talk
Whether you’re looking for a senior Finance Business Partner, a Project Accountant for a complex programme, or simply want to connect about AI in finance — Phil would like to hear from you.