Sesame told Mortgage Solutions John Cupis, will leave the business within an unconfirmed timescale by mutual consent whereas Jon Dear and Pan Andreas have already left alongside Jim Newman who retired in June.
A spokesperson from SBG said: “We are very confident about the outlook for our mortgage business and are well positioned for the new Mortgage Market Review (MMR) world. We continue to attract and retain high quality mortgage firms, which has led to a significant increase in mortgage volumes over the last year. The productivity of our network members is also at a record high. We have a massively successful network and mortgage club, which through Sesame and PMS represents around 25% of all UK intermediated mortgage lending. We are working hard to ensure our members continue to have all the assistance they need to help them grow their businesses further in the coming years.”
Sesame’s director of operations and sales Lisa Martin, (pictured) with 27 years’ experience in the mortgage arm of the business, takes on an expanded role as director of mortgages. Martin will also continue to lead the experienced team in PMS which built the market-leading PMS Mortgage Club.
A strategic review, supported by Friends Life, which completed in March this year targeted to strengthen the group confirmed mortgage club PMS and its Appointed Representative (AR) network will continue to operate, where in contrast the wealth AR network proposition was culled.
Jim Kelly takes on a new expanded role as the group’s commercial director, which will combine his previous finance director duties with responsibilities for legal and customer relations, supporting Stephen Gazard and Martin in growing the mortgage business.
Head of member and customer support, Stuart Davies takes on a wider remit as director of network operations working alongside Martin.
Head of commercial development, Steve Cox, who has 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry and currently works in SBG’s mortgage business, takes on a new group wide role supporting Kelly.
The SBG board continues to be led by executive chairman, John Cowan, working alongside non-executive directors Diana Miller and Nick Criticos. Following the retirement of Jim Newman, David Burlison has been appointed to the SBG board as strategic implementation director, subject to approval by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Gazard will take on a wider remit in the new structure with responsibility for leading SBG’s support for advisers across wealth and mortgages, alongside its response to the changes and opportunities in the at-retirement market.
John Cowan, SBG executive chairman, said: “I am excited to be leading this strong and talented management team and we look forward to delivering quality services to both wealth and mortgage advisers. The outlook for both our markets and our profession is incredibly positive, so a key objective for us is to ensure that we continue to place customers at the centre of all our activities as we implement our plan to continue to build a successful and sustainable business.
Cowan added: “On behalf of the group I would also like to thank Jim Newman, John Cupis, Jon Dear and Pan Andreas for their valuable contribution during their time with the business. We wish them well for the future.”
