AFH Financial Group has hired the former group operations director of Tavistock Investments as the company's new chief operating officer.
Jon Dear joined AFH this week in the newly created role of chief operating officer, appointed to support the growth of the company's presence in the mortgage and protection market - in which AFH said it sees lots of opportunity.
Prior to his appointment, Mr Dear was group operations director at Tavistock Investments and previously worked at Allied Dunbar, Zurich, Aegon and Bankhall.
Whilst working with West Bromwich Building Society in 2007, Mr Dear established Insync Financial Planning, the society's advice arm, which was bought by AFH in 2009.
Mr Dear said: "We’ve got a lot of great people working in successful businesses – just imagine how much bigger and better we could be if we bring all that talent together.
"I’ll be working with colleagues to strengthen the synergies between them and the wider group. Though right now I’m very conscious of how much I don’t know.
"I’m going to be a sponge for the next few weeks – listening to everyone about everything."
AFH reported its revenues in the year to October 2018 exceeded £50m, a growth of almost 50 per cent on the previous year, with more than £5bn in funds under management.
Alan Hudson, chief executive at AFH, said: "We moved into the protection market because we saw a significant opportunity both to meet unserved client needs and to develop our adviser community.
"Jon’s appointment is a significant step on the road to AFH becoming a major player in the mortgage and protection market. I’m looking forward to supporting him to achieve that."
rachel.addison@ft.com
