Directorate changes

RNS Number : 1315J

Kingswood Holdings Limited

25 April 2022

 

KINGSWOOD HOLDINGS LIMITED

("Kingswood", the "Company" or the "Group")

Kingswood Holdings Ltd (AIM:KWG) is delighted to announce the appointment to the Board of David Lawrence as Chief Executive Officer of Kingswood Holdings Limited and Richard Avery-Wright to the boards of its UK regulated subsidiaries KW Wealth Planning Limited and KW Investment Management Limited.

David was appointed as UK CEO of Kingswood in December 2020 and has over 30 years' experience in financial services, predominantly with Lloyds Banking Group where he has held numerous senior leadership roles in distribution and functional areas across its Retail, Commercial and Insurance divisions.

Richard has over 30 years of commercial and investment experience. He began his career in 1985 on the floor of the London Stock Exchange acting as a trainee stockbroker. For the following 22 years, Richard worked for a number of well-known financial services firms, including Man Group PLC, and Old Mutual PLC, both in the UK and in Australia. In 2007, Richard co-founded Pie Funds Management in New Zealand. In 2012, Richard settled in Guernsey and established RCP Holdings Limited, which has co-founded or has made investments in a range of businesses including, RAW Capital Partners, Castle Point Funds Management, Wealthify and MYPINPAD.

David Hudd, Chairman commented:

''On behalf of the board, we are absolutely delighted to announce David Lawrence as our new Chief Executive Officer. His leadership of Kingswood UK has been transformative, and we are confident David will take the business to another level over the coming years, fully realising its potential.

"I would like to express huge thanks to Gary Wilder for stepping into the CEO role over three years ago and having the vision for what Kingswood can become both domestically and internationally. The board will continue to benefit from this as he steps back into a non-executive role.

"I am also pleased to welcome Richard Avery-Wright to the Boards of our UK regulated subsidiaries KW Wealth Planning Limited and KW Investment Management Limited. Richard will be a strong addition to the Group's governance and brings a deep and highly successful track record of building and creating value in a number of businesses, including the sale of 50% of RAW Capital Partners to a group of UK based insurance investors which culminated in the demerger of the venture capital arm into a new regulated business, 1818 Venture Capital, a specialist investor in European (mostly UK) fintech and digitally-enabled businesses. His knowledge and expertise in fintech will be invaluable as Kingswood builds its presence in this area."

Gary Wilder commented:

''Since appointing David Lawrence as UK CEO in December 2020, huge progress has been made on   our ambition to become a leading Wealth Manager. The business is now demonstrating leading credentials in buy and build, delivering strong inorganic and organic growth and leveraging the benefits of being a vertically integrated wealth manager. With equal investment in its people, client experience and technology, the business is now exceptionally well placed for its next phase.

"Accordingly, it is now exactly the right time for me to step back into a non-executive role and give David the mandate to take the business forward as Chief Executive Officer.

"I will continue to have oversight of Kingswood US, though this will continue to be very capably led by Mike Nessim who is delivering some stellar successes.''

David Lawrence, Chief Executive Officer commented:

"I joined Kingswood excited by the vision and opportunity to build a leading wealth management business in the UK. Fifteen months in, I am delighted to be leading an increasingly successful, rapidly growing business and a team of people where I am hugely proud of what they do each and every day for our clients and each other, with so much more to come. The business is being transformed, most notably illustrated by the eight acquisitions and integrations that we have completed in the last twelve months, with a strong pipeline for a similar number during 2022. With an equally strong focus in our people, our client experience, technology and proposition, I expect the next fifteen months to be an incredibly exciting period for Kingswood.

"I am delighted to have been invited to join the board of Kingswood Holdings Limited as Chief Executive Officer and look forward to working with the board to deliver on our ambitions.''

Richard Avery-Wright commented:

"I am excited to have been invited to join the boards of Kingswood's UK regulated subsidiaries. Kingswood has an excellent story and the growth ambitions are incredibly exciting. There is an excellent team in place who are passionate about the vision that Kingswood is set to achieve.  I look forward to working with Kingswood and in particular supporting in the development in the  Fintech and digital  space.''

Regulatory disclosures

In accordance with Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies, David Frank Lawrence (aged 53) holds the following directorships and partnerships:

Xcap Nominees Limited

Regency Investment Services Limited

Novus Financial Services Limited

Money Matters (North East) Limited

Metnor Holdings Limited

KW Wealth Planning Limited

KW Wealth Group Limited

KW Investment Management Limited

Joseph R Lamb Independent Financial Advisers Limited

Joseph Lamb Financial Planning Limited

IPN Partners Limited

IBOSS Limited

IBOSS Asset Management Limited

EIM Nominees Limited

Casson Beckman Wealth Management Limited

Allots Financial Services Limited

AIM Wealth Holdings Limited

AIM Independent Limited

Admiral Wealth Management Limited

David Lawrence is beneficially interested in 75,757 ordinary shares of 5 pence in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares") and holds 5,000,000 options over Ordinary Shares.

Save for the disclosures above, there are no further disclosures to be made in accordance with Rule 17 and Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

For further details, please contact:

Kingswood Holdings Limited	[phone]
David Lawrence	www.kingswood-group.com
finnCap Ltd (Nomad & Broker)	[phone]
Stuart Andrews / Simon Hicks / Abigail Kelly
GreenTarget (for Kingswood media)   Jamie Brownlee / Alice Gasson / Ellie Basle	[phone]   [e-mail]

About Kingswood

Kingswood Holdings Limited (trading as Kingswood) is an AIM-listed (AIM: KWG) international fully integrated wealth management group with circa 9.1 billion of Assets under Advice and Management. It services circa 19,300 clients from a growing network of offices in the UK including Abingdon, Beverley,  Conisbrough , Darlington, Derby, Essex, Grimsby, Hampshire, Harrogate, Hull, Lincoln, London, Maidstone, Newcastle, Rotherham, Sheffield (2), Worcester and York with overseas offices in Johannesburg, South Africa and Atlanta, New York and San Diego in US.

Kingswood offers a range of trusted investment solutions to its clients, which range from private individuals to some of the UK's largest universities and institutions, including investment advice and management, personal and company pensions and wealth planning. Kingswood is focused on becoming a leading player in the wealth and investment management market through targeted acquisitions in the UK and US, creating a global business through strategic partnerships.

 

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