Exclusive: Former IG Group CFO Christopher Hill appointed CEO of Britain’s largest financial services firm
Just one year into his tenure at Hargreaves Lansdown, former IG Group CFO Christopher Hill is now set to be appointed CEO of the firm, making him head of Britain’s largest financial services company
Just over a year has passed since Hargreaves Lansdown, Britain’s largest financial services firm which as part of its multi-asset investment portfolio includes IG Group electronic retail trading white label HL Markets, appointed Christopher Hill as its Chief Financial Officer.
Mr. Hill joined Hargreaves Lansdown in Bristol as Chief Financial Officer, reporting to CEO Ian Gorham, whilst Mark Ward was drafted in from Deloitte by IG Group to serve as interim CFO back in October 2015.
This week, FinanceFeeds has learned that Mr. Gorham has moved on, standing down from his leadership positon, and that Mr. Hill has will replace him having appointed Chief Executive Officer of Hargreaves Lansdown, effective on a permanent basis from September 2017.
As of October this year, Mr. Hill will serve as deputy Chief Executive Officer.
Despite there being very little similarity between London’s electronic trading industry and Bristol’s traditional financial and life assurance businesses, one particular company, Hargreaves Lansdown, has risen from its origins as an independent financial adviser in the mid 1980s to a firm which is attracting talent from London’s finest, Mr. Hill’s appointment in October last year being a case in point.
Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion
Established in 1981 by Yorkshireman Peter Hargreaves CBE, a former computer salesman, and Bristolian Stephen Lansdown, an accountant, Hargreaves Lansdown grew from a FIMBRA-registered independent financial adviser in the 1980s and early 1990s, placing retail business with Bristol-based life assurance firms such as Commercial Union and General Accident, to a company which developed its own proprietary investment platform and today has a market capitalization of over £6 billion.
The platform, which operates under the name Vantage, enables investors to hold different types of investments in one place with one valuation and one dealing service. Most of the asset classes handled are ISA, SIPP along with a fund and share dealing account.
In true West Country fashion, the company also operates unit trusts, a type of investment which was pioneered by Mark Weinberg of Allied Dunbar over 30 years ago.
Photograph: Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, home of Hargreaves Lansdown
