James Hay Wealth Management has 'refocused' its IFA broker operations, by splitting the role of UK sales director into two following the departure of Stefano Del Federico.

Since Del Federico’s exit two weeks ago, Abbey says it has “refocused our IFA broker operations to further support our key clients as part of our distribution strategy and the evolution of James Hay Wealth Management."

A spokesman for the company says he can confirm “Stefano Del Federico has left James Hay to pursue other opportunities”, with the former UK sales director now on gardening leave.

However, the ‘refocusing’ of the James Hay business - which includes Abbey’s wrap and self-invested personal pension (Sipp) offerings - means Del Federico’s role has been split in two, with Shaun Sandiford taking over as regional sales director for the South, and Damien Conway for the North.

The Abbey spokesman says: “We have reduced the layers of management in order to ensure that sales management can be closer to their clients. But we will continue to recruit selectively in order to meet our growth plans off the back of the InfoComp investment.”

Abbey announced in September it had agreed a deal with Australian IT provider InfoComp to upgrade the technology aspects of its current wrap offering, which was re-branded as the James Hay Wrap in October, with a full re-launch of the proposition planned for the second half of this year.

And, at the time, Abbey confirmed it would be integrating InfoComp’s ‘Composer’ software into its business to form the core of the James Hay wrap and Sipp platforms, which currently have funds under administration of more than £11bn.

http://www.ifaonline.co.uk