St James’s Place boss David Bellamy is stepping down after 26 years at the wealth manager
David Bellamy is stepping down from the board at St James's Place, it was announced today.
He will be succeeded by chief financial officer Andrew Croft, while chief risk officer Craig Gentle joins the board as chief financial officer.
The news sent shares down seven per cent in early trading to 1,021p.
Bellamy became chief executive 11 years ago and has been at the wealth manager since it was founded, joining the board in 1997. He will remain with the firm in an "advisory capacity" and take on the role of non-executive chairman of St James's Place's new international operations.
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Bellamy said:
It’s been an incredible journey and I am very proud of what we have achieved together since the group commenced trading in January 1992.
It’s been a great privilege to have led St James’s Place through a period of great transformation and success over the last 11 years and I would like to thank the executive team and everyone in our community for making these achievements possible.
The group is in excellent shape and better placed than it ever has been for the opportunities that lie ahead and I know that, under Andrew’s leadership, St James’s Place will continue to go from strength to strength.
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Chairman Sarah Bates said Bellamy had overseen the firm's ascent to become "an established member of the FTSE 100" and under his leadership, St James's Place "has gone from strength to strength".
The wealth manager entered the FTSE 100 in 2014.
The announcement came alongside the firm's full-year results for 2016, posting underlying profit before tax of £163.5m, in line with the previous year.
St James's Place said it will pay a final dividend of 20.67p a share – a rise of 20 per cent, to take the total dividend for the year up 18 per cent to 33p a share.