Strategic risk advisory

Risk
Management.Done Right.

Dharma Risk provides CRO-level advice and hands-on support to building societies, specialist lenders and growing financial services firms.

From fractional risk leadership and targeted reviews to affordability and benchmarking, the focus is practical: identify what matters, make risk proportionate and help the business move forward with confidence.

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Senior experience, applied now

Current engagements. Proven CRO-level experience.

Dharma Risk combines more than 20 years in consumer lending and seven years at CRO level with current advisory work across FCA-authorisation lenders and UK building societies.

2Current fractional CRO engagements with lenders progressing through FCA authorisation

2UK building societies currently supported on lending and risk priorities

4Affordability calculator builds across practitioner and advisory roles

£14bnLargest balance sheet overseen at CRO level

Recognition & affiliations

Credit Strategy Credit 500 2026 member graphic

Credit Strategy Credit 500Raj Marwaha · 2025 & 2026

Member of FinTech WalesDharma Risk · company member

Our services

Four clear ways to work together.

Dharma Risk is deliberately focused: senior-level interventions, defined outcomes and direct delivery. No generic capability matrix and no large consulting team between you and the work.

Fractional CRO & Strategic Adviser

Senior risk leadership without permanent senior headcount. Flexible CRO-level support that scales with the business — from strategy, policy and governance to regulators, funders and investors.

Targeted Risk Reviews

An independent view of what needs to change. Focused senior reviews of a defined risk problem, framework or decision, resulting in practical recommendations rather than a generic consulting methodology.

Affordability

More accurate lending decisions without weakening risk discipline. Review an existing approach or implement a tried-and-tested affordability calculator calibrated to the lender's customers, policy and risk appetite.

Building Society Benchmarking

Understand where you differ from peers — and whether you should. Independent comparison to support risk appetite, lending strategy and better-informed decisions about where the Society can take more or less risk.

When clients call Dharma Risk

When experienced risk judgement matters most.

You do not need to know which service you need before getting in touch. Clients typically bring Dharma Risk in when they need senior judgement, an independent perspective or additional capability without turning the problem into a large consulting programme.

Senior risk expertise, but not a full-time CRO

A growing lender needs experienced risk leadership that can flex as the business develops.

Authorisation, funding or significant change

The FCA, investors or funders need confidence that the risk agenda is being led credibly.

The CEO or Board wants an independent view

Something does not feel quite right and an experienced external perspective is needed to identify what matters.

Risk has become too conservative or too much of a blocker

Policy, underwriting or affordability may be suppressing good business without a proportionate risk rationale.

Risk appetite is not influencing decisions

There may be plenty of metrics, but little connection between appetite, strategy and the decisions management is taking.

Risk MI takes effort but generates little insight

Teams are reporting that a number moved rather than why it moved, what it means and what should happen next.

Recognise one of these? Talk through the problem →

What this looks like in practice

Specific problems. Practical intervention.

Examples from current Dharma Risk engagements sit alongside clearly labelled examples from Raj's wider CRO track record.

Current Dharma Risk engagement · Building society

Affordability and risk appetite

A UK building society was operating with a relatively basic affordability approach that did not sufficiently differentiate between customers at different income levels.

Dharma Risk implemented a more dynamic affordability calculator and advised on stress rates, maximum LTI, interest-only lending and the wider risk appetite.

OutcomeA more proportionate framework designed to support greater new-business opportunity while retaining appropriate affordability controls.

Current Dharma Risk engagement · Growing lender

Fractional CRO through FCA authorisation

A new mortgage lender needed experienced risk leadership without creating permanent CRO-level cost at an early stage.

Dharma Risk provides scalable fractional support, including credit policy design, participation in FCA discussions and support in investor and funder conversations.

OutcomeSenior risk expertise is available at key regulatory and commercial moments while the operating model continues to scale.

Raj's practitioner track record · Large building society

Board Risk MI redesigned around insight

A large quarterly Board Risk pack took weeks to produce while providing limited insight into what was actually driving risk.

The existing pack was stopped and replaced with a smaller dashboard focused on insight, root cause and management action.

OutcomeSubstantially less production activity and better Board discussion centred on the risks requiring attention.

WHY DHARMA RISK

Practitioner-led
Direct delivery
Retail lending specialist

Risk should enable good business. It should create confidence to act — not simply reasons to stop.

Good risk management helps management and Boards understand which risks are worth taking, which are not and where intervention is actually required.

Across affordability, risk appetite, MI, governance and team design, Raj has repeatedly worked in organisations where Risk needed to become more proactive, proportionate and useful to the business without compromising independent challenge.

20+Years in financial services

7Years at CRO level

4Organisations where Board risk appetite has been redesigned

1:1Senior practitioner delivery

Practitioner first

Senior judgement without the consulting machinery.

Dharma Risk was founded by Raj Marwaha, a former CRO with more than 20 years' experience across consumer lending and financial services. Raj has held CRO accountability across multiple firms, including SMF4 responsibility at a major UK building society, and has led Risk teams of more than 50.

The model is deliberately direct: CRO-level judgement close to the decision-maker, with bespoke solutions rather than an off-the-shelf consulting methodology.

More about Raj & Dharma Risk

Start with the issue

You do not need a polished brief.

If something in Risk is not working as well as it should — or you simply want an experienced independent view — start with a conversation.

Book a conversation Email Dharma Risk

RiskManagement.Done Right.