James Hay Partnership’s chief financial officer John Watson is set to leave the firm at the end of the first quarter, FTAdviser can reveal.
The platform provider’s chief executive Alastair Conway confirmed that Mr Watson’s decision to stand down was in order to take a “well-deserved break” before pursuing other opportunities after helping with transition up to the end of Q1.
Mr Watson has been part of the IFG Group for over 14 years, serving as UK chief financial officer for IFG’s businesses, before focusing on James Hay in the last twelve months.
Mr Conway stated: “He has been an invaluable member of the James Hay executive team during a period of significant growth and development of the business.
“He leaves at a time when we are incredibly well placed to grasp with both hands the opportunities presented by the new flexible pension market, cementing our position as the leading platform for retirement wealth planning.”
No further details were given on the change, but James Hay will announce his replacement following a search which is ongoing.
Last September several employees at the recently acquired IFG Financial Services were told there would be “potential redundancies” following a review by new owner Ascot Lloyd.
Richard Dunbabin, chief executive at Ascot Lloyd, told FTAdviser at the time that it was undertaking an evaluation of the business and that there were a number of people in duplicate roles at both IFG Financial Services and Ascot Lloyd.
peter.walker@ft.com
