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Equity Release Council – Meet the new Risk, Policy and Compliance team

The Equity Release Council has further bolstered its ranks with the addition of a new Risk, Policy and Compliance team.

The new team will help to enhance and deliver the Council’s standards as the organisation continues to evolve to support a consumer-focused later life lending market. In addition, the team will play a major role as an oversight function, while developing information and recommendations to the Council’s Standards Board and committees.

Kelly Melville has been appointed as the Head of the Risk, Policy and Compliance team, while Sue Read, is the team’s new Manager.

The appointments mean the Council has now created four new, senior roles in as many months.

Lorraine Cox was recruited as the new Business Development and Membership Manager and Simon Posner is the new Public Affairs Manager.

Jim Boyd, Council CEO, said:

“I am delighted to welcome our new colleagues to the Council at this time of growth for our organisation.

“These latest hires complement our professional capabilities and will help to inject even greater pace into the Council’s member and consumer-focused initiatives.

“The creation of a Risk, Policy and Compliance team adds further weight to our role as a standards-setter in the later life sector, as we continue to evolve and revise our important standards.

“Meanwhile, the other new roles, will enable us to add even further value to members and drive meaningful change through political engagement – and support better consumer outcomes.”

Meet the team

Kelly Melville
Head of Risk, Policy and Compliance

Kelly-Melville-KellyKelly brings over 20 years of financial services expertise, working with both lenders and networks in later-life lending, helping to drive improvements and create best practice. Kelly has previously held regulated positions at Alliance & Leicester and Legal & General.

"Working with the Council and its members to better support consumers will be a key focus of mine in the months ahead. I’m pleased to join the Council at such an exciting time of growth at the organisation and look forward to working with various committees to implement key initiatives going forward.”

Sue Read
Team Manager

Sue ReadSue has a wide range of experience as a Business Development Manager, Underwriter, Operations Manager, Trainer, Compliance Officer and, most importantly, Adviser, across several firms and networks. This breadth, covering over 30 years, provides a unique insight into both consumer and adviser perspectives.

“Having been active in the equity release space for over 20 years, I am excited to come on board at this vital time to further reinforce the industry’s rigorous consumer protections. I look forward to working with the team to add value to the Council’s members and to the end customer.”

Lorraine Cox
Business Development and Membership Manager

Lorraine CoxLorraine brings over 30 years of financial services experience in marketing and relationship management both at a strategic and operational level, having held senior sales and marketing roles at AXA Life. She most recently worked at the professional body, the Chartered Insurance Institute, managing large corporate relationships.

“Working with the Council and its members to better support the organisation’s growing and increasingly diverse membership will be a key focus of mine going forward. I’m delighted to be on board to add further value to members on the next phase of this organisation’s exciting growth journey.”

Simon Posner
Public Affairs Manager

Simon PosnerSimon has spent a large proportion of his 30 years’ plus career in Whitehall as a Civil Servant and a Ministerial Aide. He was also previously Chief Executive of a leading transport trade association, where his work established it as an industry leader for safety and compliance through important pieces of legislation and regulation.

“I am looking forward to working with the Council and its members to continue to drive forward key stakeholder and public affairs matters. Leveraging my experience in Whitehall and at a trade body, it is brilliant to be part of a team so driven by upholding the highest level of consumer protections.”

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