Chase de Vere has announced Kathleen Gallagher will replace Stephen Kavanagh as chief executive at the advice firm as he prepares to retire.
From April, Kavanagh will become chairman of the firm, which he has worked at for 25 years, with the last 12 as chief executive.
“In looking for my successor as chief executive, it was incredibly important that we appointed somebody who shares my values, my passion and my commitment for Chase de Vere and for doing what is best for our clients and for our employees,” he said of Gallagher’s appointment.
Gallagher joined Chase de Vere in 2000 as a trainee financial adviser and moved into her first management role in 2005 when she led a team based in the London office. By 2014, she was regional manager for the South, responsible for teams in Basingstoke, Bath, Cambridge, Cardiff, Exeter and London.
In April 2020, she became director of advisory services, where she was responsible for client proposition and business development. She was appointed to the executive team at this time.
In a statement she said: “My key priority will be to build on Stephen’s achievements in ensuring that our advisers continue to have the best possible platform to deliver expert independent financial advice and a highly personalised service to our clients.”
Kavanagh added: “I am extremely proud of everything that Chase de Vere has achieved during my tenure as Chief Executive. I’ve also reached my own personal milestone recently, with my 60th birthday last month and, in light of this and, having had the great privilege of being able to achieve so many of my own professional ambitions, I feel that the time is now right for me to take a step back from the day-to-day running of the business.”
