Charles M. Spear, the founder, chairman and...

Charles M. Spear, the founder, chairman and chief executive of Spear Financial Services Inc. in Glendale, is resigning effective Dec. 31.

The company said Spear wants to pursue “new opportunities,” but Spear and company officials declined to elaborate on why he’s leaving. His successor was not immediately named.

Spear started the company in 1983 as mainly a discount brokerage that also provided other securities services. But Spear Financial’s business began changing in 1988 when it bought James Mitchell & Co., which markets annuities and other insurance-related investments through financial institutions.

Now, Spear Financial plans to focus solely on Mitchell’s activities, having announced recently that it plans to divest its brokerage and other non-Mitchell units. In 1991, Mitchell accounted for 69% of Spear Financial’s $29.7 million in total revenue.

The company said it also agreed to buy about 500,000 of its shares from Spear at an average price of $8 a share, or $4 million. Spear will also continue to be paid under terms of his employment contract, which has two years and nine months remaining, a sum that totals about $1.5 million.