Assetz Capital hires new chief risk officer
ASSETZ Capital has former RBS and NatWest executive Chris Macklin as its new chief risk officer.
Macklin has over 35 years of experience at the high street banks, including four years as head of complex customer management and strategic relationship management.
In his new role as chief risk officer at the peer-to-peer business lender, Macklin will head up all of the risk management operations of the company, as well as building on the established risk management framework already in place across the business.
Andrew Sheppard, who has been holding the role of chief risk, compliance and ethics officer at Assetz Capital until present, will become chief compliance and ethics officer.
An Assetz Capital spokesperson told Peer2Peer Finance News that, as the platform scales up, they are bringing in new people “to help carry the weight and responsibility of growing the business”.
Macklin will take on the principal risk oversight role and Sheppard will support him in those duties, while also focusing on his role as chief compliance and ethics officer, the spokesperson added.
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“While the traditional banking sector is saddled with many legacy challenges that it is struggling to address, it does have a very mature approach to risk,” said Macklin. “I’ll be ensuring we take learnings from this and ensure that Assetz Capital continues to be the industry benchmark when it comes to managing risk.”
“Chris brings extensive risk management experience at a time when our business is going from strength to strength, with significant growth in the loan book and the investor base,” said Stuart Law, chief executive and co-founder at Assetz Capital.
“We always want to lead the P2P market when it comes to risk management – we know that this rigour ultimately benefits both our investors and borrowers. With Chris’ appointment, we are aiming to go further and establish the best practice standard in the wider alternative finance industry.”
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A number of P2P lenders are bolstering their risk management expertise as they look to develop their businesses. RateSetter recently announced the appointment of Stuart Bridges, chief financial officer at consultancy Control Risks, as non-executive director on its board.
