LONDON (Reuters) - Life insurer Friends Provident said it had appointed Evelyn Bourke, an executive at rival Standard Life, as its new chief financial officer.

Bourke, currently chief financial officer at Standard Life UK Financial Services, will take up her new role after completing a six-month notice period, Friends Provident said on Friday.

Bourke is the permanent replacement for Charles Bellringer, who became Friends' interim chief financial officer in July following the departure of Jim Smart.

(Reporting by Myles Neligan; Editing by Hans Peters)