One year after the appointment of Jo Ainsworth as Avantia’s Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, we spoke to her about how the first year has gone, and plans for the future.
What stood out to you when you first joined Avantia?
“When I first joined Avantia, the pace and ambition of the business stood out immediately. Avantia has a strong growth mindset, but equally genuine commitment to doing the right thing for customers. That combination creates a really positive environment for Risk & Compliance to add value – not as a blocker, but as an enabler of sustainable growth.”
In one sentence, how would you sum up your first year as Chief Risk and Compliance Officer?
“Helping everyone understand their role in managing risk and making Risk and Compliance a natural part of how we make decisions day to day.”
What were your key focus areas?
“From the outset, my focus was on three key areas:
Firstly, building strong foundations to support Avantia transition into the Senior Manager and Certification Regime (SM&CR) as an enhanced status firm.
Secondly, building a strong Risk & Compliance team. This meant strengthening capability and aligning the structure to support robust Risk and Compliance oversight.
Finally, reinforcing our constructive, proactive engagement with the FCA.”
What is the achievement you’re most proud of in this time?
“Laying the foundations for a scalable Risk and Compliance model that supports growth without compromising on customer outcomes or regulatory expectations.”
What have been your key focus areas from a regulatory perspective?
“It’s been a busy year from a regulatory perspective.
Firstly, the continued embedding of Consumer Duty, particularly around evidencing good customer outcomes in Claims, Complaints, Product (fair value) and ensuring we are meeting the needs of vulnerable customers.
We have also been preparing from the transition to the Enhanced SM&CR, including clearer accountability and governance structures.
Another priority has been implementing operational resilience requirements – ultimately, making sure we can keep things running and support our customers when something goes wrong.
Finally, we’ve seen a lot of changes in regulatory reporting, so we’ve been strengthening our processes to make sure our reporting is accurate and timely.”
What has been the key challenge?
“One of the key challenges has been balancing the pace with control – ensuring that as we grow, our control environment keeps up without becoming overly complex or slowing business down. A key lesson has been the importance of clarity and simplicity. Well defined frameworks, clear ownership, and pragmatic guidance are far more effective than overly detailed policies that are difficult to operationalise.”
What are your top three priorities moving forward?
“My top three priorities moving forward are successfully embedding Enhanced SM&CR requirements and ensuring accountability is clear and effective, continuing to evolve our Consumer Duty approach with focus on deeper insights and demonstrable customer outcomes, and scaling the Risk & Compliance function in a way that supports growth including greater use of data and technology to enable smarter decision-making.”
Is there anything else you would like to add?
“A huge thank you to the Risk & Compliance team and the wider business. The progress over the past year has been a real team effort. It’s been great to welcome new joiners into the team while also building on the experience and expertise of our existing colleagues. Everyone has played a part in strengthening how we work, supporting each other through change, and helping develop a more collaborative approach to managing risk across the business.”