Graves (pictured) will join the group next week reporting to executive chairman John Cowan. He will work alongside managing director Stephen Gazard overseeing the group’s propositions across its three advisory brands.
SBG executive chairman John Cowan said: “Mark has built a strong and successful track record based on his close working relationship with adviser firms. It was clear from our first meeting that he is the ideal person with the right credentials to further strengthen our experienced executive team. We are thrilled that Mark has agreed to join us and help to quickly put our plans into action.“Following the completion of our strategic review we are now focused on the future. This appointment is a further signal to our members, clients and staff, along with the wider market, that we are absolutely committed to driving our business forward as we embark on a new phase of growth and development.”
Graves added: “I have been impressed by the group’s strong team ethos and its commitment to working closely with advisers on a range of valuable new initiatives.”
Ex-director of mortgages Lisa Martin departed from Sesame Bankhall-owned PMS in September after three weeks of being at the role.
Previous to this, John Cupis held the position of managing director of mortgages at PMS for eight years, before moving to Openwork as the network’s mortgage director.
Graves spent three and a half years running Pink’s network and was due to join The Right Mortgage and Protection Network on 1 November, which was set up by Martin Wilson in the second half of 2014.
During his time at Pink, Graves was infamous for his commitment to the protection market, which saw him require Pink brokers to carry out protection stress testing on every mortgage and demand proof of income protection provision from new advisers joining the firm.
In June the network announced it would increase fees for less active brokers. Graves commented at the time that ‘it was not fair’ that the minority of brokers which wrote little or no business were ‘subsidising’ other members.
