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The executive leading Lloyds Banking Group’s push to grow its “mass affluent” division is leaving the bank after more than a decade, less than two weeks after the launch of a “premier” service that she called a “game changer”.
Lloyds told employees on Tuesday that Jo Harris would be leaving her job as chief executive of the division, which focuses on customers with roughly £100,000 to £1mn of investible assets, according to people familiar with the matter.
Harris, who sits on the group’s executive committee, joined Lloyds in 2014 and held a number of senior positions before she was tapped by group CEO Charlie Nunn to create a new “mass affluent” service as part of his strategy to revamp the bank.
Lloyds told staff Harris would leave her role, which she has held for four years, at the end of June, said the people familiar with the matter.
Over the past four years Harris has been in charge of expanding Lloyds’ offering to customers in the mass affluent cohort, culminating in the launch last week of its “premier” service.
The new service includes a “current account with exclusive benefits and offers, financial coaching and tailored lifestyle perks”, according to a LinkedIn post by Harris announcing its launch.
Banks and asset managers have been eager to access the mass affluent market as they pursue market share in wealth management and private banking.
But competition is fierce as major lenders look for fee-generating businesses to make up for lower net interest income in a lower rate environment.
Lloyds said that Harris, who reported to Jayne Opperman, head of consumer relationships, was leaving after “11 successful years across a range of leadership roles”.
In a memo to employees on Tuesday seen by the Financial Times, Harris called her time at the bank an “epic journey”, calling the “premier” service a “game-changer”.
Lloyds previously set out plans to target wealthier clients, including a joint venture with Schroders. The initiative, called Schroders Personal Wealth, was launched in 2019 and aimed to combine the firm’s investment expertise with the bank’s large customer base to create financial planning business to compete with the top three players.
