Craig Brown will become chief executive of Legal & General Home Finance, replacing Claire Singleton who is stepping down after ten years in the role.

Brown, who is currently director of intermediary at Legal & General Insurance, will take up his new post on 28 February.

Singleton will become group general counsel at the business.

Brown joined Legal & General in 2012 and has held several senior commercial and operational roles during that time, most recently leading the distribution of protection products through the firm’s intermediary channel, which comprises over 19,000 businesses.

Legal & General says: “Craig brings a breadth of experience leading sales, procurement, operations and transformation in a wide variety of industries and functions.”

Brown previously held roles at Aviva and Lloyds Banking Group.

The financial services group adds: “Craig is exceptionally well placed to lead the division in its mission to transition later life mortgages into mainstream retirement planning – a key ambition of the newly formed Legal & General Retail division, led by chief executive, Bernie Hickman.”

The group entered the later life mortgage sector in 2015, and says it has focused “on growing the market by driving competitive rates, better customer outcomes and innovation, as well as developing a suite of best-in-class products.”

The division oversees one in six new lifetime mortgage originations in the UK, has over 100,000 customers, and has released £5.6bn in total lending.

It says: “Craig will look to build on this success and bring home equity into the core asset pool considered by retirees, alongside their pensions and other savings.”

Legal & General Retail chief executive Hickman says: “Having co-founded Legal & General Home Finance in 2015, I remain passionate about the potential value of property to achieving better retirement outcomes for people in later life.

“Lifetime and retirement interest-only mortgages can help meet a diverse range of challenges across customer demographics, from interest-only mortgage capital repayments to wealth planning.

“Craig brings both an essential understanding of the intermediary landscape and broad commercial experience, making him ideally placed to grow our market share.”

Incoming Legal & General Home Finance chief executive Brown adds: “I think there is a huge opportunity with the growing relevance of property to people’s long-term planning, to move later life lending into the mainstream – and I believe Legal & General can play a key role in leading this transition.”

Singleton will also step down from her role on the board of the Equity Release Council, with Brown taking up her position.

When Brown moves to his new post, Julie Godley will take up his previous post as director of intermediary on an interim basis with from 28 February.

Also, further management changes at Legal & General Home Finance sees Andrew Gilbert appointed as product director and Paula Hughes become head of business development.

Gilbert joins from retirement income group JUST where he worked in growth and innovation, and was previously proposition director of savings and retirement at insurer LV.

Hughes rejoins Legal & General. She left in 2017, after spending 17 years at the business. Hughes returns to the firm after having spent periods at building society Nationwide, where she was corporate development director, and at retirement business Key Group.