The chief executive of investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) is planning to retire from the role after six years, he has announced.
Chris Hill informed the board on Monday (October 17) he will remain in the top job at the Bristol-based company until his successor is appointed - and will allow time for a handover up to November next year.
The 51-year-old, who was formerly chief financial officer of Travelex, took over the running of the business in 2017 after joining HL in 2016 - initially as chief financial officer and then as deputy chief executive from October 2016 to April 2017.
Aside from steering HL through the pandemic, Mr Hill was responsible for overseeing the launch of the company's Better Investor programme, which targeted communication towards new investors during the Covid-19 crisis.
The business, which is based on Anchor Road in Bristol, employs some 1,800 staff and has 1.7 million clients. Of those, a total of half a million joined the platform in the last two years alone. In August, Mr Hill spoke to BusinessLive about the challenges facing the investment market and his future vision for the firm, which was founded by Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown from a bedroom in Clifton in 1981
He said: "I have been privileged to lead the company over the last six years through a period of growth and also an unprecedented time of change. I set in train a comprehensive strategy to ensure the company remains at the forefront of wealth management, including providing clients with the best digital tools.
"Having put in place strong foundations that are already delivering results, including an exceptional leadership team, it will be time after a thoughtful transition to hand over to my successor to take the company through the next phase of embedding this strategy."
Deanna Oppenheimer, the firm's chair, said Mr Hill was leaving HL as a "stronger company" with a "clearly defined strategy" that was supported by the board.
"Having started the implementation of the next phase of the company's growth, Chris has decided it is time to pass the reins to a new CEO to continue to execute on this strategy and build on our market leading proposition," she said.
"The board is grateful to Chris for his leadership and looks forward to continuing to work with him on delivering the strategy and a successful handover next year."
In the first half of the year, HL’s profits tumbled by 19% to £297.5m, while revenue also fell from £631m in 2021 to £583m.
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