Family Building Society chief executive Mark Bogard has been elected as the new chair of the Building Societies Association.
He succeeds Yorkshire Building Society chief executive Mike Regnier and takes up the role with immediate effect.
Bogard has been deputy chair at the BSA since 2019 and is replaced in this role by Marsden Building Society chief executive Rob Pheasey.
The term of office for the BSA chair and deputy chair is two years and both are unpaid roles.
Bogard has 20 years’ experience in financial services.
He became chief executive of National Counties Building Society in 2012 before the lender launched the Family Building Society brand in July 2014.
Prior to joining National Counties, he ran Barclays’ retail funds business and then built up Moneyextra, an aggregator website focused on mortgages and savings that was sold to Bristol & West.
The business was then merged with IFA firms Chase de Vere and Willis National, and Bogard was appointed as managing director.
From 2004 until 2012, Mark was UK chief executive of IFG Group, responsible for James Hay, a self-invested personal pension (Sipp) provider and Saunderson House.
He has an MA from Cambridge University and completed his articles with Slaughter and May before joining Schroders to work in corporate finance and then for the group on strategy.
In January 2013 he was appointed as non-executive director of mortgage broker Alexander Hall, where he is now chairman.
Bogard says: “I’m excited to be taking on the role during what will certainly continue to be an interesting period of challenges and opportunities.
“Whilst fantastic progress is being made with the vaccination programme, and the roadmap for easing Covid-19 restrictions is still on track, the process of rebuilding and restructuring the economy will take much longer.
“With 25 million savers and borrowers, building societies have a key role to play in helping people make the most of their money, particularly the younger generations, who have often been hit hardest.
“The pandemic has demonstrated very clearly the need for people to save for a rainy day, even at very low interest rates.
“It has reinforced the importance of local communities, family and social purpose to the UK public.
“This provides a natural environment for building societies and credit unions which have had a strong sense of these since their inception.
“The mutual business model, which brings long-term thinking together with a customer-first approach, keeps social purpose at its heart, something that is resonating strongly with members and many young people too.
“The pandemic has changed the way we live and work currently and customer expectations of digital combined, for some, with the high street must be delivered.
“It will be fascinating to see how things evolve as the current restrictions are eased.
“Building societies’ ability to be nimble and serve the parts of the mortgage market that need bespoke solutions, is a great opportunity for the sector, and provides a valuable service for homebuyers and a sound home for depositors.
“In a land of elephants, we can be ballerinas.”
