Alpha Financial Markets Consulting Regulatory News (AFM)

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday 14 February 2018

ALPHA FINANCIAL MARKETS CONSULTING PLC ANNOUNCES BOARD APPOINTMENTS

Alpha Financial Markets Consulting plc ("Alpha FMC") is pleased to announce three Board changes, with one role change and two new appointments. Ken Fry has been appointed Non-Executive Chairman, and Penny Judd and John Paton will join the Board, as Senior Independent Non-Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer respectively.

Ken Fry joined the Board in May 2016 as a Non-Executive Director and will become the Independent Non-Executive Chairman from 1 April 2018. This follows the decision by Tim Trotter to step down, as disclosed in the AIM Admission Document. Ken has over 28 years' experience in the financial services industry. Most recently he was Chief Operating Officer of Aberdeen Asset Management, and prior to 2008 he was Chief Technology Officer.

Penny Judd joins as Senior Independent Non-Executive Director on 28 February 2018, and has over 30 years' experience in Compliance, Regulation, Corporate Finance and Audit. She is a chartered accountant and is currently Non-Executive Chairman and a Director of Plus500 Ltd, where she is also the Chair of the regulatory and risk committee and an Independent Non-Executive Director of TruFin Plc.

Penny has also previously held the role of Managing Director and EMEA Head of Compliance at both Nomura International Plc and UBS AG, and worked for Cazenove & Co, the London Stock Exchange and KPMG.

John Paton will be appointed Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary. He is a chartered accountant with 23 years of corporate finance, banking and audit experience, as well as a law degree. His appointment follows the decision of Maria Stricker to step down from the Board to focus on working with private companies. John's start date is currently being finalised to incorporate an appropriate period of handover with Maria.

John joins from HSBC where, during his 11-year tenure, he has worked in both HSBC's Global Banking & Markets and Commercial Banking divisions in London. John was a Director in the UK Mid-Market Advisory team (2007-12), Corporate Origination team (2012-16) and latterly, the UK Banking team (2016-present). Prior to this he spent more than five years at MacArthur & Co. and nearly seven years at KPMG in financial services audit and risk management roles.

Euan Fraser, Global CEO of Alpha FMC, commented:

"I wish to thank Tim for his support as Chairman; it has been a real pleasure to work together over the last four years. With Tim's help we achieved enormous success over that period. I'd also like to thank Maria for her hard work and commitment over the last year and, in particular, her support with our successful IPO in October. I wish them both every success with their future interests.

"I am delighted to announce these new Board appointments. I have hugely enjoyed working with Ken over the last two years and look forward to working with him as Chairman. Penny's public markets and financial services experience will be a tremendous asset to the Board and I look forward to working with her as the Senior Independent Non-Executive Director.

"I am also very pleased that John is joining us as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary. He possesses a wealth of experience and talent and I look forward to working closely with John as we continue to grow our business.

"It is a great tribute to the team at Alpha FMC that we continue to attract such talented individuals. I have no doubt that Ken, Penny and John have the experience, dedication and expertise to support our future success. I look forward to working with all of them as we continue to achieve the challenging objectives that we set for ourselves and our business."

Ken Fry, incoming Independent Non-Executive Chairman, commented:

"After serving on Alpha FMC's Board for the past 20 months, it is a great honour to be appointed as Chairman. My time at Alpha FMC has been both enjoyable and rewarding, and I look forward to working with Euan and the Board to continue Alpha FMC's success."

Penny Judd, incoming Senior Independent Non-Executive Director, commented:

"It will be a privilege to sit on the Board of Alpha FMC. I am very much looking forward to working with Ken, who has such a wealth of experience in the industry, and with Euan, under whose stewardship the company has achieved great success. Together, I am sure that we will be able to oversee further growth at this ambitious company." 

John Paton, incoming Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary, commented:

"It is incredibly exciting to be appointed as Chief Financial Officer of Alpha FMC. I have been thoroughly impressed by the team, their track record and Alpha FMC's compelling growth strategy in both existing and new jurisdictions. Through the recruitment process I got a strong sense of Alpha FMC's vibrant culture and the team's dedication; I am very much looking forward to starting and contributing to its further success."

There is no further information required to be disclosed in respect of the above appointments pursuant to Schedule 2 (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

For further information please contact:

Alpha Financial Markets Consulting plc

Euan Fraser, Global CEO +44 (0)20 7796 9300

Temple Bar Advisory (Media and analysts) +44 (0)20 7002 1080

Alex Child-Villiers +44 (0)7795 425580

William Barker +44 (0)7827 960151

Grant Thornton UK LLP (Nominated Adviser)

Philip Secrett / Richard Tonthat / Harrison Clarke +44 (0)20 7383 5100

Berenberg (Broker)

Chris Bowman / Toby Flaux / Laure Fine +44 (0)20 3207 7800

Biographies

Ken Fry, Chairman

Ken joined Alpha FMC in May 2016, following almost ten years as the Chief Operating Officer at Aberdeen Asset Management. Ken has over 28 years of experience in financial services and has considerable experience integrating acquisitions within the investment management sector. He has a strong technology and operations background and has undertaken a number of large transformational projects during his career. He directed the integration of many major acquisitions while at Aberdeen, including assets acquired from Deutsche Asset Management, Credit Suisse Asset Management and Scottish Widows Investment Partners.

Penelope Ruth Judd (aged 54), Senior Independent Non-Executive Director

Penny is a chartered accountant with over 30 years of experience in Compliance, Regulation, Corporate Finance and Audit. She is Chairman of Plus500, where she is also the Chairman of the regulatory and risk committee. Until June 2016, she was Managing Director and EMEA Head of Compliance at Nomura International Plc, a position she held for three years. Prior to this, she worked at UBS Investment Bank for nine years and held the position of Managing Director, EMEA Head of Compliance. Penny began her professional career at KPMG where she qualified as a chartered accountant. She left KPMG to join the UK Listing Authority, where she managed the Equity Markets Division responsible for admission of companies to the Official List and AIM and regulation of listed companies. In 2000, Penny joined the Corporate Finance team at Cazenove & Co focusing on bringing companies to the main market as well as advising on M&A and capital raisings.

John Campbell Paton (aged 45), Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary

John is a chartered accountant with 23 years of corporate finance, banking and audit experience. He joins from HSBC where he was a Director in the UK Mid-Market Advisory team (2007-12), the Corporate Origination team (2012-16) and latterly, the UK Banking team (2016-present). Over his 11 year tenure he advised on a variety of M&A transactions and led loan financings for UK corporates. Prior to this he spent more than five years at MacArthur & Co. focusing on capital raisings including AIM IPOs. John started his career at KPMG, where he spent nearly seven years, working across financial services audit and risk management with exposure to financial reporting requirements, governance, risk & internal controls and systems' implementation. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, graduated LLB (Hons) from the University of Aberdeen and holds an Executive MBA from the University of Bristol & École Nationale des Ponts & Chaussées, France.

John's only current disclosable directorship is of Tudor Holdings Inc., a small, family-owned, US property holding company.

About Alpha FMC:

Alpha FMC is a leading global provider of specialist consultancy services to the asset and wealth management industry.

With over 250 consultants and contractors across nine major cities (London, Edinburgh, New York, Boston, Paris, Geneva, The Hague, Luxembourg and Singapore), Alpha FMC has provided consultancy services to over 200 clients, including 17 of the 20 largest global asset managers by AUM and 60 percent of the top 50.