Former TSB and Virgin Money boss Paul Pester has taken on the role of chairman at Firenze, a Manchester-based embedded finance startup that helps wealth managers offer clients loans secured against their investment pots.
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Firenze wants to work with brokers, wealth managers and investment platforms to offer so-called “Lombard loans” to Britain’s 13 million wealthy customers.
While Lombard loans are typically reserved for super-rich private bank customers, Firenze gives people quick access to loan sizes starting from £65,000 today and, subject to FCA approval, from as little as £25,000 next year.
The startup, which raised £750,000 in pre-see funding earlier this year, has developed a proprietary platform, white label product and connected APIs to enable asset managers, advisors and investment platforms to easily deploy Lombard loans without custody must be postponed.
Now the company has attracted heavyweight Pester, who left TSB in 2018 after the bank suffered a major IT collapse that left customers plagued with online and mobile problems for months.
He also held senior roles at Lloyds Bank and Santander before more recently focusing on fintech companies and founding money-sharing app Loop, which was acquired last year by Tandem Bank, where he now serves as chairman.
Pester will be joined as non-executive directors by Barclays veteran Samantha Bamert and asset manager co-founder Artorius Mike Toole.
Pester says: “Lombard loans are one of the best-kept secrets of the super-rich – they provide quick access to cash without having to sell investments. It’s great to be able to bring this to over 13 million UK consumers who have savings and investments over £50,000 through their advisors.”
