Target Group has announced the appointment of Jonathan Hole as its new chief risk officer, as the business continues to sharpen its focus on compliance, governance and regulatory resilience in support of its ongoing growth strategy.
With more than 40 years’ experience across credit, market and operational risk, Hole joins the digital transformation and business process servicing provider at a time of heightened scrutiny across financial services. His career includes senior positions at major banks including Barclays, GE Money and Santander, covering both UK and European markets. More recently, he has built a strong track record within the mortgage industry, having held risk and compliance leadership roles at Aldermore, Foundation Home Loans and Paragon Banking Group.
In his new position, Hole will be responsible for shaping and overseeing Target’s risk and compliance strategy. This includes leading the company’s second line of defence and managing its internal governance, data protection, financial crime and compliance operations. He will also work closely with internal teams to support new business bids, deliver regulatory updates to clients, and provide strategic input on the regulatory landscape.
Target Group, whose clients include major tier one financial institutions, provides services spanning mortgage and loan originations, payments and collections, in-life servicing and People as a Service. The business also develops software solutions and is a prominent player in business process outsourcing.
Hole said he was excited to take on a role with such scope and scale, and highlighted Target’s collaborative approach to risk as a key strength.
“One thing that has really impressed me is that the conflict that often exists between risk and operations or commercial teams does not exist at Target,” he said. “Instead, we are all pulling in the same direction and fighting for the same thing to achieve good customer outcomes and deliver on the commercial interests of our clients.
“Above all though, I’ve found the people at Target to be really lovely and friendly, with a strong and genuine culture of family. It’s great to be working with the tremendous team here to ensure our proactive approach to risk and regulation remains both a strategic and competitive advantage for our clients and for Target as a business.”
Peter O’Connor, chief executive of Target Group, said: “Across financial services, Target is well known for delivering innovative and scalable solutions that are backed by deep domain expertise and unrivalled regulatory knowledge. Jonathan’s impressive track record across multiple disciplines and established blue chip organisations clearly speaks for itself and makes him a superb addition to the Target team. As we continue to execute our growth strategy, leveraging his skills and expertise as part of our team will be a huge advantage to Target and our customers.”
