Legal and General’s MD partnerships Mark Holweger confirmed Smith’s plans after a meteoric 24 years with L&G, alongside 14 years on the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) board and several years as deputy chairman and member of the Bank of England’s residential property forum.
Smith joined Legal & General in 1994 to relaunch the insurer’s mortgage lender, Legal & General Mortgage Services and led the sales and marketing team there to award winning success, launching the UK’s first ‘flexible mortgage’.
Smith ran the new housing area’s marketing department and took on responsibility for the Mortgage Club, the surveying company – LGSS and its estate agency chain. In 2003 he drove the project to launch the L&G mortgage network and served on the board though to its eventual wind up in 2016.
He has also served on the Boards of Penrith-based technology company The Idol and lifetime mortgage lender, Legal & General Home Finance.
Holweger said: “I know that Stephen has many plans for his retirement and it is unlikely that he will not retain his interest in some way in the mortgage and housing markets. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his significant contribution to the growth and success of the company over the last quarter century and wish him well for the future.”
Smith said: ““I am looking back on 40 years in the mortgage market, and it’s amazing how far we have come, and it just gets busier and more exciting every year. But there is a time to take this step and it feels to me to be the right thing to do now.”
“I’m sure there will be many amazing opportunities and challenges in the mortgage market over the next few years, and I look forward to watching how my colleagues and friends in the industry deal with them,” he added.
