"He holds both the practical experience and leadership credentials to help Intrinsic continue to be the network of choice for professional financial advisers."
Stephen joins from Sesame Bankhall Group, where he has been managing director for four years.
SBG announced Gazard's departure yesterday, confirming that Mark Graves will move from Sales Director to become Managing Director of Sesame & PMS.
During his time with SBG, Stephen worked closely with Intrinsic on the integration of over 200 financial planners who joined the business after it was selected as the preferred partner for pensions and investment advisers following SBG’s decision to focus on its mortgage, protection and directly authorised services.
The position of group managing director is newly created. Intrinsic announced in 2016 that it would create three new business channels, each with its own managing director with full profit and loss responsibility. Nigel Speirs will continue to lead Old Mutual Wealth Private Client Advisers, with Stephen Fryett having oversight of the Wealth Network for investment and pension advisers.
Intrinsic CEO, Andy Thompson, said: “I’m delighted that in Stephen Gazard Intrinsic has been able to attract a pioneer and leader of the financial planning industry to join our business. As a financial adviser who has since gone on to hold numerous senior management positions within distribution, he holds both the practical experience and leadership credentials to help Intrinsic continue to be the network of choice for professional financial advisers.
“Stephen will both provide leadership to our Mortgage Network and work directly with me on our broader distribution strategy.
“At Intrinsic we aim to be an industry leader, demonstrating best practice in face to face advice and investing in the future of the professional financial planning industry. Stephen shares that vision with us and will be a hugely valuable addition to the executive team.”
Stephen Gazard added: “I am delighted to be joining Intrinsic at such an exciting time in its evolution. They have a hugely talented and admired team, a membership to be envied, and a parent company in Old Mutual Wealth that sees high quality financial planning sitting at the core of its long-term strategy.
“My decision to leave SBG after four years as managing director was not one taken lightly. However, after speaking to Andy and the OMW team over a number of months and understanding their plans for the future it represents a fantastic opportunity to be part of an organisation that truly sees all aspects of financial advice as core to its long-term strategy."
