Helena Morrissey quits as AJ Bell chair after FCA blocks board position for founder

AJ Bell’s chair Baroness Helena Morrissey has resigned from the fund platform after a disagreement with the Monetary Conduct Authority over the long run position of the corporate’s founder Andy Bell.

Bell, 56, who constructed the corporate into one of many UK’s largest fund supermarkets, introduced plans in June to step down as chief govt and change into non-executive deputy chair.

However the firm stated on Tuesday that the FCA had objected to the association, citing a “threat to efficient board governance that might come up if a founder CEO with a major shareholding remained on the board after stepping down as CEO”.

Morrissey, a well known Metropolis govt who based the 30% Membership to push for extra gender balanced boards, will step down after simply 9 months within the position.

“We had been unable to agree our most well-liked position for Andy with the FCA and Helena believes it’s the proper factor for her to step apart so a brand new chair can take the board ahead,” stated Evelyn Bourke, senior unbiased director, who will lead the seek for a brand new chair.

The FCA accepted the board’s choice of Michael Summersgill, at the moment deputy chief govt, as Bell’s successor. He begins within the prime job on October 1. Bell will retain the fitting to appoint a non-executive director whereas he stays a major shareholder; he holds a 23 per cent stake.

The contested reshuffle on the FTSE 250 group underscores the issue of management change at founder-led firms and casts doubt on how the FCA will deal with entrepreneurs who wish to step again from day-to-day administration of regulated corporations however keep a job of their enterprise.

Morrissey, who stop the board of wealth supervisor St James’s Place after 14 months to affix AJ Bell, will serve till the board finds a successor.

Bell stated he accepted the regulator’s stance. “My focus will probably be on serving to to construct the AJ Bell model in addition to persevering with to assist AJ Bell’s campaigning and lobbying efforts on behalf of retail traders and monetary advisers. I’ve full confidence within the board, Michael and the broader administration staff,” he stated.

The corporate stated: “The FCA have indicated that they take into account their stance to be per earlier messages given to different regulated corporations and isn’t any reflection on the health and propriety of AJ Bell or Andy.”

Different founders have maintained nearer hyperlinks with regulated firms after leaving the chief govt’s workplace. Peter Hargreaves, founding father of AJ Bell’s bigger rival Hargreaves Lansdown, turned an govt director after stepping down as chief govt in 2010 and served on the board for 5 years. Extra just lately Sami Dessai, founding father of lending agency Funding Circle, moved from chief govt to non-executive director in January.

The FCA declined to remark.

The disrupted succession comes at a tough time for funding platforms corresponding to AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown as households trim investments to deal with the price of residing, and a downturn in markets has depressed their property underneath administration and discouraged buying and selling this yr.