Carlton Hood has been appointed CEO of Responsible Group, which includes the retirement mortgage specialist Responsible Life and lifetime mortgage lender Responsible Lending.

Hood’s (pictured) previous roles include being CEO at comparison site Confused.com, customer director at UK wealth manager Old Mutual Wealth and and managing director of financial services at The Telegraph.

Steve Wilkie, the founder of Responsible Life and its sister company Responsible Lending, has moved from being CEO to executive chairman.

Wilkie said: “Carlton has vast experience of helping customer-focused businesses grow, and he will be a great asset. His input is particularly valuable now, with the country facing huge economic uncertainty as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Whatever we face as a country post-lockdown, housing equity in retirement will become even more important.

“We can see that there is huge potential for the equity release and retirement mortgage sector to continue to grow. We are thrilled to have him on board to lead this growth.”

Hood added: “Responsible Life is a growing, successful business with a real customer focus, in a sector that holds tremendous possibilities over the next decade. One of the things I’m most looking forward to is developing our service further to help many more people enjoy a prosperous retirement.”