Sesame boss tasked with 'writing next chapter of success'

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Sesame boss tasked with 'writing next chapter of success'

Sesame Bankhall Group has promoted Martin Schultheiss to the newly created role of chief operating officer and tasked him with writing "the next chapter in the future success" of the intermediary business.

He joined the company in January as strategic implementation director but has now taken on a wider role, with responsibility for group strategy, operations, IT, human resources and proposition development.

John Cowan, executive chairman of Sesame Bankhall Group, said: "Our business has made great strides in recent years. It is now time to build on our strong foundations and invest in the next generation of services for our members and clients.

"This will help to ensure their continued success, along with profitable and sustainable growth for our group.

"With experience gained in financial services markets around the world, Martin brings fresh strategic thinking and energy to our plans.

"He will help us to write the next chapter in the future success of our business, by ensuring our market-leading brands deliver even greater value to advisers and their customers in these changing times."

Mr Schultheiss most recently worked in South Africa for The Unlimited Insurance, Nedbank Corporate Division and Harcourts International.

He also has experience consulting in organisations around the world, including HSBC, Westpac, Lloyds TSB, Bank of Beroda, Mashreq Bank and Liberty Life.

Mr Schultheiss said: "SBG is a strong business with excellent people, and I have been impressed by the determination to move the business forward on to the next level.

2The group is investing in its brands to help ambitious advisory firms to grow, whilst continuing to ensure they stay safe by carefully managing their risks.

"We will be successful by embracing the opportunities being created in the new digital world, and never losing sight of our profession's entrepreneurial spirit and the core purpose we all share: to serve our customers well and deliver the right outcomes, so that they keep coming back."

Friends Life - now part of Aviva - bought Sesame for £75m from software provider Misys in March 2007. It launched a strategic review, led by Barclays Capital, into the network in 2013.

That same year the business was fined £6m for failing to ensure the Keydata advice it gave was suitable – this amounted to £2m more than Sesame made in profit in 2012.

In April 2015 Sesame announced it would be closing its appointed representative network for wealth advisers.

damian.fantato@ft.com