The group risk and regulatory director of UK-based financial adviser support firm Tenet Group has told International Adviser that replacing its chief executive will not alter long-term plans.
Subject to FCA approval, Mark Scanlon will succeed current chief executive, Martin Greenwood, who is retiring later in the spring.
Scanlon joins from financial services firm Personal Group, where he was chief executive. Greenwood joined Tenet in 2000 as a non-executive director and was appointed chief executive in 2011.
Tenet’s group risk and regulatory director, Caroline Bradley, told IA: “It won’t be a significant change. We might accelerate the pace of which we are doing things around here.
“It will be very much business as usual at Tenet. We have a five-year plan. We are trying to introduce a high-performance culture, simplify everything for our advisers, as much as possible, and give them all the tools they need to get the job done.
“We will still be the largest independent provider of financial advice in the UK.”
Five-year plan
Bradley also discussed what the five-year plan will involve; and, like many other UK financial advice firms, M&A is one of several topics on the agenda.
“It is about streamlining the offering we have got for our advisers, particularly on the technology side,” said Bradley. “We have a plan to do around 20 practice buy-outs over a five-year period. This is predominately existing Tenet members, who are looking to retire.
“We are unique at Tenet in that we have our own professional indemnity (PI) insurance company and we offer lifetime run-off cover for our advisers as well.
“That is quite compelling as a recruitment message for them. They can join Tenet, have their PI cover while they are with us and then when they choose to retire, we will buy their business, and then they have the lifetime security of that run-off.
“We are also staying abreast of all the regulatory changes for us to help train and run advisers’ business.”