The Intermediary – February 2025 - Flipbook - Page 82
On the move. . .
Unity Trust Bank adds
independent nonexecutive director
Quilter hires distribution director for mortgage network
Q
uilter Financial Planning
has appointed Zara Bray as
distribution director for its
mortgagee network.
y joins from
Bray
ortgage
Legal & General Mortgage
as head of
Club where she was
strategic accounts.
Bray will lead the
gage
strategy for its mortgage
and protection
propositions,
ensuring they meet
customer needs.
She will report into Stephen
Frye, managing director of Quilter
Financial Planning.
Frye said: “Her ext
extensive experience
t
will be invaluable in continuing to
f our
provide high-quality support for
ad
mortgage and protection advisers,
t have access
ensuring they continue to
proposition.
to a best-in-class proposition.”
Bray added: “[Quilt
“[Quilter Financial
Planning] has an ex
excellent reputation
in the market, and I am loo
looking
forward to helping push on its
ambitions.
growth ambitions.”
U
ZARA BRAY
LV= appoints wealth proposition director
V= has appointed Sarah Hills as
wealth proposition director.
Hills has over 20 years of
experience in financial services,
having held senior roles at Ascentric,
Standard Life Aberdeen, and AXA
Wealth. Most recently, she was head
of platform proposition strategy at
M&G Wealth.
V= wealth
Hills will lead the LV=
he growth of the
team, focusing on the
h business.
company’s wealth
Hills said: “I’m delighted to join
h proposition director
LV= as wealth
and look forward too using my
wth
experience to drive growth
he
in this critical area of the
SARAH
business. As a mutual,
HILLS
V= has a strong culture,
LV=
L
nity Trust Bank has
appointed British
economist Lord John
Eatwell as independent
non-executive director.
Eatwell has served as a professor,
political adviser, and member
of the House of Lords. Eatwell
taught economics at Cambridge
and served as
President of
Queens’ College
for over 20
LORD
years. He began
JOHN
EATWELL
focusing on
policy issues
related to
employment,
growth, and
finance in the 1980s, becoming an
economic adviser to former Labour
Party Leader Neil Kinnock.
Eatwell said: “Unity has a
‘double boom-line’ strategy of
careful and responsible financing
alongside a commitment to social
purpose [...] I’m looking forward
to being involved in its next stage
of growth.”
Alan Hughes, chairman of Unity
Trust Bank, said: “John’s extensive
experience, knowledge, and
insights will be a tremendous asset
to Unity."
customer-centric values and respected
brand – I’m really looking forward to
becoming part of such a great company.”
Katherine Carnegie, chief commercial
officer at LV=, said: “We’re thrilled to
welcome Sarah to LV=.
“She brings with her significant
experience and a proven track record in
the wealth space
space.
“As well as being an expert
in the design, deli
delivery and
management of w
wealth
propositions, Sarah has a deep
understanding of product
development, in
investments
and platform solutions w
which
furt
will further
strengthen
t our
our proposition to
ad
customers and advisers.”
Frank Pennal joins Pluto Finance as non-executive adviser
P
luto Finance, provider of
private credit for residential
and commercial property
developers, has appointed
industry veteran Frank Pennal as
non-executive adviser.
Pennal brings experience to Pluto
from senior property finance
and lending positions, most
notably as CEO of Close Brothers
Property Lending, a role he held
for 19 years.
Pennal was also a director of
Close Brothers Limited from
2008 and served on the group
executive from 2019 until his
retirement in 2023.
FRANK
PENNAL
Justin Faiz, chief executive officer
of Pluto Finance, said: “Frank joins
Pluto’s Advisory Panel at a very
time
exciting time.
“Against a ba
backdrop of a critical
housing ambitious
undersupply of housing,
targ
Government housebuilding targets,
withdra
and the withdrawal
of traditional
banks from property finance, nonno play a key role in
bank lenders now
filling the funding gap and meeting
this societal need.
“Frank’s experience and stra
strategic
advice will be instrumental in
t
helping Pluto capitalise on this
w are delighted to
opportunity and we
t the team.”
welcome him to
Pennal added: “I have keenly
observed Pluto’s growth as it has
become one of the UK’s leading
providers of finance for vital
housebuilding projects.
“I have also been impressed by
the strength of its relationships
with developers, as evidenced by
its strong rates of repeat business,
and its ability to aract high quality
institutional capital to fund its
growing loan book and pipeline.
“This is an exciting time to join
Pluto’s Advisory Panel, and I look
forward to working with Justin
and the team to help achieve its
ambitious growth targets.”
