THE chief executive of Scottish Widows, Toby Strauss, has stepped down after four years with the Edinburgh-based pensions giant.

Lloyds Banking Group, owner of Scottish Widows, confirmed the departure of Mr Strauss this morning.

Lloyds has replaced Mr Strauss with Antonio Lorenzo, who will hold the dual roles of interim group director of its insurance division and chief executive of Scottish Widows.

The Bank of Scotland owner said it is continuing to pursue a strategy of integrating the insurance business within the wider banking group.

Antonio Horta-Osorio, chief executive of the Lloyds group, said: "During the last four years, Toby has helped to re-establish the Scottish Widows brand and deepened the insurance division’s relationship with the group.

"The next stage of our strategy involves a sustained investment over the next few years. Toby has reached the stage in his career where he feels unable to fully commit to that period of time. I would like to thank him for his hard work and dedication and we wish him well for the future."