Following three years of record growth, the company has today appointed Rory Curran to the position of executive chairman with the former commercial director, Mik Cons, now taking over Rory’s role as managing director. Three channel managers, each with responsibility for a different market sector: financial planning and wealth management, employee benefits, and mortgages, have also been appointed, along with a new corporate account manager.
Rory Curran, executive chairman, explains:
“The economic and regulatory changes that are rapidly shaping the future of the retail financial advice market offer huge opportunities to technology companies to assist advisers in building profitable businesses. Whilst we will remain firmly committed to this, we equally need to diversify - particularly as our market share is now approaching 50% in the IFA desktop arena. The new roles and appointments we have made will ensure we are able to apply specialist knowledge to each sector of the financial services technology market and build solutions which continue to lead their field.”
Tony D’Agostino, formerly business development manager for the insurance sector of Logica CMG’s finance division, has joined the company as a corporate account manager. With over 20 years experience of the insurance and IFA sector, Tony also held senior roles with Intech, Bull Information Technology and Siemens-Nixdorf.
Tessa Froggatt has been appointed as partnership manager – employee benefits, in her previous role Tessa has worked with the UK’s leading corporate employee benefit consultancies for a number of years, including HSBC, Chase De Vere and John Scott & Partners.
Nick Bowler has been appointed as partnership manager – financial planning, Nick was originally employed as a business analyst – financial planning. His previous experience includes working for NFU and he was one of the first in the UK to pass the financial planning degree.
1st Software already has over 10,000 adviser users across the UK, ranging from national brokers to sole traders. The Adviser Office 2 range has been developed out of 1st Software’s years of experience in providing the leading client management system and associated products and services for the financial adviser and mortgage intermediary market.
Rory Curran, 1st Software’s executive chairman, continues:
“At a time when most software suppliers are retrenching and cutting costs, we are delighted to be in the enviable position of having achieved award-winning growth and continual demand for our products. We have done this by never losing sight of our clients’ needs and making sure we not only listen to feedback, but take it on board”.
