Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK-based wealth advisory firm, has announced that its chief executive and co-founder, Peter Hargreaves, is to step down in the autumn of this year.

Ian Gorham, who has been the firm’s chief operating officer since September 2009, will be appointed as deputy CEO with immediate effect, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals, and will become CEO once Hargreaves has stepped down, the firm said in a statement.

Prior to joining Hargreaves Lansdown Gorham had been with the accountancy and consultancy Grant Thornton since 2003, where he was a partner and head of financial services.

After stepping down Hargreaves will remain an executive director, focusing on client liaison as well as being involved in producing the firm’s newsletters and investment information.

His decision to hand over leadership of the firm follows that of co-founder Stephen Lansdown to step down as executive chairman at the start of December last year – a move taken to split executive and chairmanship roles as part of a process to comply with the corporate governance standards affecting listed firms. He remains on the firm’s board as an executive director.

Earlier this month Hargreaves Lansdown reported that its operating revenue across all business lines rose by 16 per cent in the nine months to end-March 2010, to £98.4 million (around $151 million), compared with the same period a year before.