Keith James chosen as new chairman at Julian Hodge Bank

Keith James, pictured, has been appointed chairman of Julian Hodge Bank, succeeding John Mitchell.

Mr James has been a director of the Cardiff bank since 2002 and takes the chairmanship at a time when banks have never been under more scrutiny.

Despite this, he believes Julian Hodge Bank has an exciting future with the board having recently agreed a new strategy that builds on the aspects of financial services it knows best - lending against commercial property and providing retirement products.

"We have decided to concentrate on the commercial mortgage business and investment funding, avoiding speculative development that has been the cause of much heartache across the UK banking sector," said Mr James.

The bank intends to re-establish its presence in the equity release market under its Hodge Lifetime brand, to provide a complementary product alongside its pension annuity offering distributed by its subsidiary Hodge Life.

"We believe that the combination of a bank with a life assurance subsidiary - both with great experience in the retirement sector - provides us with a unique opportunity to benefit from anticipated growth in these markets in the next few years," said Mr James.

In addition to his duties at JHB, Mr James is a director of Admiral Group and chairman of its UK subsidiary, Admiral Insurance and its price-comparison business, confused.com.

He is also a director of Atlantic Venture Capital and has formerly held directorships at the Bank of Wales, AXA Insurance, HTV and International Greetings.

Appointed an OBE in 2005 for services to business and the community in Wales, Mr James is a trustee of the National Trust and a member of its advisory board in Wales.

A former chairman of Eversheds LLP, the international law firm with offices in Cardiff, he has also served on the council of Cardiff University, chaired the Welsh Centre for International Affairs and co-founded the Institute of Welsh Affairs.

Looking to the future, Mr James says that for the UK and Welsh economies to grow, a well-educated and highly-skilled workforce and continuing investment in infrastructure is critical, as is the need to encourage innovation in key sectors.

"The challenge facing the Welsh Assembly Government and Westminster is how to achieve this and at the same time manage the broader economic problems we face," said Mr James.

The new chairman pointed out that, during the toughest trading conditions yet experienced, Julian Hodge Bank did not ask for nor require any government support and managed to retain healthy capital and liquidity reserves.

"We have kept our status as an independent, trusted brand and I’m confident that we can now go on to create a niche business where we can excel. In particular I believe we can become a significant player in the equity release market, where our expertise is second-to-none and the opportunities are immense," said Mr James.

A Cambridge graduate, the incoming chairman believes the UK will remain an economic force, though it may slip down the pecking order as the BRIC countries continue to expand.

"We must remain competitive in areas such as financial services and not relegate ourselves to second division status through continued City excesses," he said.

And when quizzed on when trading conditions would return to normal, Mr James felt there would be no improvement in the foreseeable future with Britain’s economy so closely linked to the world and euro-zone economies.

"There is little prospect of creating the conditions that might encourage growth if the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis is not resolved. Without stability, confidence will remain low and investment limited.

"I hope I’m not tempting fate therefore when I say that here at JHB, while many financial institutions suffered significant losses over the past four years, we managed to maintain our net asset position.

"And after a quiet time for us, we are confident we have the right strategy and are well-placed to grow our business in the niche markets we have identified."