Bluestone hires specialist distribution head

Richard Chesworth has been appointed as Bluestone’s new head of specialist distribution.

The company has indicated plans to increase its distribution reach and to broaden its product range, with Mr Chesworth to be responsible for the development and distribution of specialised lending products.

His initial focus will be on leading the launch of Bluestone’s new self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) loan product with the residential version scheduled to go to market in June. A commercial version will follow later in the year.

Mr Chesworth most recently was responsible for retirement partnerships at reverse mortgage provider Household Capital.

He was previously at BT Financial Group, where he worked on the company’s SMSF offering, as well as being a segment manager at Macquarie Bank, responsible for the development and distribution of specialist lending solutions across SMSF property lending, reverse mortgages and aged care lending.

He commenced in his new role with Bluestone on Monday (21 March), reporting to chief customer officer James Angus.

Mr Angus had previously worked with Mr Chesworth at Macquarie.

The SMSF market is also expected to be a growing segment, despite brokers telling Bluestone that “writing SMSF loans can be a nightmare”, Mr Angus added.

Bluestone first indicated that it was set to launch SMSF and construction loans in February. 

“The SMSF market is growing, at the same time as banks are withdrawing from the market. Here at Bluestone, we see a huge opportunity to support this underserved segment,” Mr Angus explained.

“Brokers are currently writing $2 billion a year in residential-backed SMSF loans and we think we can win 10 per cent of that business very quickly.”

The lender also recently made additions to its business development team, adding two business development managers (BDMs) to its NSW team. 

Further, Bluestone indicated that it was set to undergo a brand refresh in February. 

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