EQUITY RELEASE COUNCIL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Compliance & Risk Officer
Charlotte brings nearly 20 years' experience in compliance and risk and most recently was Chief Compliance & Risk Officer at the UK's largest credit management services provider, Cabot Credit Management and Wescot Credit Services.
Previously, she worked at Deloitte and started her career at Barclays, before joining the Intertrust Group. At Key Group, she focuses on overseeing the Key Risk Management Framework to ensure it's aligned to the Group's strategic objectives, as well driving effective risk management and supporting regulatory compliance.
Chris is a former journalist who has worked in media and communications for almost 20 years. He spent the first decade working in the newspaper industry before moving to consumer-focused trade bodies and professional bodies. He worked for the National Pharmacy Association and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute before joining the Council in 2019.
David has been a practising solicitor for 25 years. During this time, he was first a Councillor in Enfield and then Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate between 2005 and 2017. David championed social justice and consumer protection and led campaigns on issues affecting elderly people. David served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to three Cabinet Ministers and sat on the influential Home Affairs and Public Accounts Select Committees and was also Shadow Justice Minister from 2007-2010. David lives in Southgate with his wife Janet and their six children.
Donna is the Equity Release Council's Chief Operating Officer and has been in this role since 2013. Her responsibilities include overseeing the governance and operational day to day delivery of the Equity Release Council, including the development of its membership propositions, and oversight of a key committee focused on conduct risk. Having started her financial services career with LV= Donna has a history with other professional bodies such as the Life Insurance Association (LIA) before joining the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) as Head of Marketing Operations and Strategic Projects where she was responsible for a number of the professional body's major Business Improvement Programmes including the launch of The Personal Finance Society and The Society of Mortgage Professionals.
Job Titles:
- Director of Technical Surveying
James is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and formerly Technical Director at Legal & General Surveying Services where he initiated and built their New Build offering, Triage valuing and developed market leading risk management services.
In 2019, he became L&G Group Residential Portfolio Manager, overseeing L&G Group's property assets in Equity Release and broader residential lending. Here he led assessments of value, risks and policy across the portfolios.
In May 2021, he joins e.surv as Technical Director where he will develop lender and consumer risk propositions.
James lives in Yorkshire with his wife and children.
Job Titles:
- Executive Personal Assistant and Admin Support
Jennifer joined the Equity Release Council in 2022 as an executive PA and admin support. She has over 15 years' experience in administrative roles in local government and healthcare, in both public and private sector settings. Jennifer has a degree from the University of Surrey and now lives in Essex with her family.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive
- Chief Executive Office
Jim Boyd, Chief Executive Office, the Equity Release Council Jim was appointed CEO of the Equity Release Council in June 2018. He joined from Reform think tank, where he was Deputy Director and Head of Research. Prior to this he was an Expert Adviser at the Department for Work and Pensions, initially supporting Lord Freud, then Welfare Reform Minister. Jim has extensive experience of retirement and social care funding having led the Corporate Affairs functions at specialist life assurers Britannic Retirement Solutions, Just Retirement and Partnership Assurance. He is an adviser to the Intergenerational Longevity Commission-UK, a leading longevity, ageing and population change policy unit. Jim is a former tax and trusts lawyer.
Job Titles:
- Director, about Consulting Group
For almost 20 years Jon has provided training, consulting, and authoring services for financial services businesses of all sizes. He was one of the youngest people ever to become a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society. He now has the ‘complete set' of Fellowships - LIBF, CII, PFS and CISI as well as the CFP and a Master's degree in Financial Planning.
Job Titles:
- Director of Risk, Policy and Compliance
Kelly brings over 20 years of financial services expertise, working with both lenders and networks in later-life lending, helping to drive improvements and create best practice. Kelly has previously held regulated positions at Alliance & Leicester and Legal & General.
Job Titles:
- Membership Business Development Manager
Laura has spent more than 12 years working within the non-profit/membership sector. She has a strong background in project management, product and service development, communications and business operations.
With a passion for people and all things membership, Laura is an enthusiastic collaborator who thrives at building professional relationships, cultivating meaningful partnerships, and takes pride in developing and implementing initiatives that increase relevance, diversity and value to membership communities.
Laura started working in financial services on an apprenticeship scheme with St James's Place, since leaving the apprenticeship scheme she has been working with Equity Release Council as an Administration Assistant. Laura deals with the onboarding of the new members, helping the application process to go smoothly and liaising with members.
Job Titles:
- Director of Communications and Marketing
With 25-years' worth of experience in communications, Lee has worked for a wide variety of different organizations from large lenders, funders and advice firms to membership bodies and PR agencies. Managing change, building stakeholder relationships, and helping brands develop robust communication functions which focus on delivering excellent results while mitigating risk are at the core of her skill set.
Job Titles:
- Lending Proposition Manager
Liz started her career as a mortgage and protection adviser. After several successful years she joined Personal Touch Financial Services (PTFS) in 2007 excelling in various functions including compliance and operational support.
Following the acquisition of PTFS by LSL Group in early 2018, and the subsequent rebrand to PRIMIS, Liz moved into the proposition team. Her role is within this dynamic department is to lead and develop relationships with lenders and providers to ensure delivery of commercially favourable terms, and a product strategy that consistently delivers good customer outcomes.
She has been instrumental in developing the specialist proposition for the Network, working closely with both equity release and later life partners. Liz is unashamedly passionate about the later life market as a whole.
Job Titles:
- Independent Chair to the Standards Committee
- Standards Committee Chair and Chief Executive, of the Money Charity
Michelle Highman was appointed as the independent chair to the standards committee in April 2023 and an independent non-executive director in December 2023.
She is the chief executive of The Money Charity, the UK's financial capability charity. The Money Charity's vision is for everyone to be on top of their money as part of everyday life. And so, it empowers people across the UK to build the skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviour, to make the most of their money throughout their lives. It provides education, information and advice on money matters to young people and adults across the UK
Previously she was a trustee of GambleAware for 6 years, a member of Pay.uk's end user advisory council, the Financial Inclusion Commission's advisory panel, the London Institute of Banking & Finance's validation panel for their post graduate certificate in financial capability and of the Institute of Inertia.
Michelle was instrumental in setting up the consumer financial education body, the Money Advice Service where she was manager of the chief executive and chair's office. Prior to that Michelle worked for 13 years at the Financial Services Authority and the Personal Investment Authority, undertaking roles in pensions, regulation, communications and financial capability.
Job Titles:
- Independent Non - Executive Director
Mike has been an avid supporter of the later life sector for many years. As sales and marketing director of Legal & General Bank, he developed an equity release product that became market-leading shortly after launch in 2001. All of his career Mike has been involved in the regulated financial services sector. He worked at a top 10 building society for ten years before it demutualised. He was CEO of the longest established IFA network with over 500 advisers which specialised in investment and pension planning. Mike was also involved with the launch one of the first banks to be approved by the newly-formed FCA.
Job Titles:
- Strategic Partner Development Director
Having joined Legal & General Home Finance from inception in 2015, Nick works with existing and new strategic distribution partners to develop retirement lending distribution and advice opportunities and to help those businesses broaden their customer propositions. He has worked in both the adviser and provider sides of the industry since 1994 and has a deep understanding of both retirement mortgage and wealth management customers having led national advice distribution networks at both L&G and Aviva.
In addition to the significant intermediary and D2C experience, Nick has worked closely with bank and building society partners and understands the challenges of meeting customer needs across all sectors.
Paul has worked in the Financial Services Industry for almost 30 years, beginning his career back in 1994 at one of the country's largest mortgage brokers and remaining there until 2007.
Since leaving Paul has founded a number of firms in the sector and alongside training many other successful brokers and is well known in the broker community.
Over this time, he has gained a vast amount of experience in the mortgage industry as a whole but specifically; in residential mortgages, buy-to-let, equity release, the 2nd charge market, bridging finance, mortgage protection, and wills and estate planning.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Co - Director at Viva Retirement Solutions
Paul Saroya is co-director at Viva Retirement Solutions, which has a stellar reputation in the later life market. Paul started his career at Aviva and was a top adviser and then top manager for many years before taking the plunge into the whole of market intermediary world.
Paul is absolutely committed to raising standards in the industry and making a difference for the greater good.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director of Barton Law Ltd
Peter Barton is the managing director of Barton Law Ltd, a dedicated equity release firm which launched in 2022 following the exit of his 30 strong team from Ashfords. He was one of the first lawyers in the country to specialise in equity release law in the late nineties and has overseen hundreds of thousands of transactions since then.
Peter has an established relationship with the Equity Release Council feeding into policy and best practice. Barton Law was named ‘Best Legal Firm' at the Later Life Lending Awards late last year.
Job Titles:
- Senior Product Manager ( Lifetime Mortgages )
Sam is a Senior Product Manager for Mortgage Customer Development at Lloyds Banking Group with a sole focus on equity release and later life lending. She joined LBG in 2021 from Legal & General Home Finance where she was Head of Residential Mortgages and Product Policies leading on the development and launch of their Retirement Interest Only mortgage as well as overseeing key enhancements to the lifetime mortgage underwriting policy.
Prior to this Sam spent over 4 years at Nationwide Building Society developing later life mortgages including the lifetime mortgage proposition which was launched in 2017 as well as representing Nationwide as the sole lender on the Financial Services Steering Group chaired by the Ministry of Defence to address commercial disadvantage faced by forces personnel in the mortgage market.
Sam is passionate that customers have more options for borrowing in later life in order to achieve their aspirations leading up to/in retirement and has a keen interest in wider issues faced by these customers with regard to pensions and long-term care costs.
Job Titles:
- Administration and Service Manager
Sarah has been work with the Equity Release Council for over 10 years. Having previously worked for an equity release financial adviser and Sun Life of Canada for over 20 years. Sarah is the Administration and Service Manager for Equity Release Council and deals with all aspects of the membership process, onboarding new members and dealing with the renewals and any membership queries.
Job Titles:
- Public Affairs Consultant
Job Titles:
- Risk, Policy and Compliance Manager
Sue has a wide range of experience as a business development manager, underwriter, operations manager, trainer, compliance officer and, most importantly, adviser, across a several firms and networks. This breadth, covering over 30 years, provides a unique insight into both consumer and adviser perspectives.
Job Titles:
- Head of Mortgage and Lending
Thomas has been working in the equity release market for over 10 years now, starting with a customer facing role, becoming an adviser, and finally, into business development. His current role as Head of Mortgage and Lending at Contact State sees him work hard to improve advertising and lead generation in financial services markets, specifically equity release and standard mortgage options. He's passionate about later life lending and how this can transform lives and relishes the opportunity to work on continuing to improve its reputation.