Hargreaves Lansdown has appointed Vanguard’s US MD Matt Benchener as chief executive officer as a permanent replacement for Dan Olley, who stepped down from the position last May after less than two years.

Mr Benchener will start his new role in July and the appointment is subject to regulatory approval.

He will join Hargreaves Lansdown in March for a handover period working alongside existing interim CEO, Richard Flint.

Mr Olley left the firm shortly after the completion of the acquisition of Hargreaves Lansdown by a private equity led consortium, comprising CVC, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Nordic Capital, for £5.4bn in March 2025.

The search for a suitable successor has taken the firm around eight months and ended at rival Vanguard, where Mr Benchener is a managing director and head of Vanguard Personal Investor, the company’s US retail direct business.

At Vanguard, which he joined in 2008, Mr Benchener held a number of different positions before becoming head of Personal Investor in December 2020. In that role he led an operational turnaround, including modernising the firm’s technology and digital platforms.

Currently based in Pennsylvania in the US, Mr Benchener, who turns 40 in February, earned his BA from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

He said: “Hargreaves Lansdown created the retail investing market as we know it in the UK. It is a privilege to lead the company through this exciting stage in its history and to deliver even more for clients and help the UK become a nation of retail investors.”

Interim CEO Richard Flint will move to a new role on the HL board as deputy chair. He originally joined Hargreaves Lansdown as a non-executive director in March 2025 and stepped in as interim CEO from August 2025.

He said: “It has been a privilege to lead the team through our transition to private ownership at an exciting and pivotal time for the business, as well as a period of important policy and regulatory change.”