AJ Bell managing director of D2C and investments Kevin Doran (pictured) has exited the firm to take up the newly-created CIO role at Lloyds Banking Group.
He spent six years at the investment platform, and was also previously CIO at Brown Shipley.
In the new role, Doran will focus on the Scottish Widows, pensions and investments side of the group.
Chira Barua, CEO of Scottish Widows and CEO Insurance, pensions and investments at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “Creating a new chief investment officer role is about bringing more focus to our investment strategy and evolving how we help our customers make their money work harder.
“We have been putting lots of energy into bringing more choice for consumers – including Ready-Made Investments and the Exchange-Traded Funds Quicklist – and Kevin’s experience of delivering disruptive D2C investment capability will help us keep momentum as we continue to innovate.”
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Doran added: “After six years of working with my friends at AJ Bell, it’s exciting to be joining Lloyds at a time where the ambitions for investments are being raised under Chira and the team. Providing services and support for 26 million customers and the opportunity to help Britain prosper as we develop the investment offering is immense and one I’m really looking forward to.”
Management shuffle at AJ Bell
Following Doran’s move to Lloyds, Charlie Musson has been appointed acting managing director of AJ Bell’s D2C business. Meanwhile, Ryan Hughes will lead the investments division on an interim basis in his new role as investments director.
Musson, who has been at AJ Bell for eight years, was previously chief communications officer. He said: “The need for people to invest for their futures has never been more important, whether that is with the help of a financial adviser or directly.
“It is therefore a really exciting time to be taking over as MD of our direct-to-consumer business, alongside Billy and the advised team. I’m looking forward to working with the existing D2C team to continue the development of our customer proposition so we can help people invest more for their future.”
In the platform’s annual results for FY23, its investments division booked a net inflow of £1.65bn, up 57% on last year. Total assets reached £4.7bn, which was 68% higher year-on-year.
