Seccl appoints Alex Henderson as CRO


Seccl, the Octopus-owned custodian and platform technology provider, has further strengthened its leadership team, with the appointment of Alex Henderson as chief risk officer (CRO).

Joining in January 2023, she will hold executive responsibility for Seccl’s risk and compliance functions and for helping ensure the business is organised to continue to meet its regulatory obligations as it grows.

Alex has spent the last nine years at Virgin Money, where she is currently head of capital management, responsible for the bank’s capital planning and forecasting, capital analysis, capital stress testing and ICAAP assessment. Before this she held various other senior leadership roles within the risk function, covering areas such as operational risk, prudential risk and risk governance and reporting.

Prior to Virgin Money, Henderson held credit risk management positions in The Royal Bank of Scotland, after training for her Chartered Accountancy qualification with Deloitte.

Alex Henderson, incoming CRO of Seccl, shared: “I can’t help but be excited by Seccl’s rare opportunity to radically transform an industry for the better. Investment platforms play a hugely important role in the long-term financial health of households around the UK and the world – but so much more can be done to ensure they deliver the best experience and value-for-money to their customers, especially at such a critical time. I’m looking forward to helping Seccl deliver on its potential, in a controlled and sustainable way.”

David Ferguson, CEO of Seccl, commented: “Alex brings a breadth and a depth of experience that would make her an asset to any team. Her background with a high-growth challenger bank will help her to provide a valuable and massively relevant perspective as we accelerate along our growth journey. But, more than that, it’s her energetic commitment to driving meaningful change for customers that sets her apart, particularly as the opportunities of the Consumer Duty come into sight. She brings a mindset that will support our development as a tech company which is blending an aggressive appetite for disruption with the substance of regulated entity – a combination which I hope can catalyse the transformation of what we call the platform market.”

Henderson is the latest in a series of senior leadership hires announced by Seccl in 2022, following the appointment of David Ferguson as CEO in April. Most recently, Adam Jones joined in October as chief technology officer from investment consultancy Redington, while Farzana Khalil and Kirsty Lynagh earlier joined as chief customer and chief people officers respectively.