National IFA Wren Sterling has appointed James Twining as its chief executive officer.
Twining has joined from private equity backed specialist insurance broker Kingsbridge Group where he has been CEO for the past four and a half years.
Prior to that, he held roles in senior leadership, strategy consulting and M&A, including six years as the group commercial director of JLT Group.
Twining said: “The business has a client-first culture, an excellent team, a compelling proposition, as well as the backing of a highly experienced and supportive investor.
“The demand for independent financial advice in the UK will only grow in the coming years and it has never been more important to ensure that we are able to help clients by delivering that advice in an accessible and affordable way.”
Twining will take over on February 28 from Ian Halley who has stepped down after five and a half years in the role.
Halley joined the firm in November 2016 and has led the management team through its secondary management buyout with Lightyear Capital in July 2021.
He will become a non-executive director and continue to sit on Wren Sterling’s risk and audit committee to support Ian Darby, executive chairman, on the business’ acquisition strategy.
Halley said: “Wren is a super business with fabulous people working to provide great advice and service to clients. The business has a clear strategy to grow organically and through selective acquisitions.
“This growth will be accelerated through planned further investment in client propositions in the coming years. James’ experience and in particular his previous knowledge in developing award winning client service will be valuable in the delivery of this investment.”
Over the past six years, Wren Sterling has doubled its assets to £4.6bn under management and increased its profitability.
Last February, the firm completed its first acquisition of the year with White Wells Investments, which added £50mn of assets under management to the national advice firm.
Wren Sterling made a further four acquisitions throughout the year, including Sentinel Private Clients, based in Warwickshire, Cardiff-based Bookkeeping Administration Services and Rothesay Intelligent Financial Services, based in Bedfordshire in July and Woking-based Frobisher Capital in August.
It ended the year with the appointment of Henry Blunt as acquisitions director, as it set its sights on advice firms in areas including Edinburgh, Bristol and Manchester.
Commenting on today's appointment, Darby said: “Ian Halley has led Wren Sterling with exemplary commitment and focus resulting in significant revenue and profit growth as well as the successful completion of our recent secondary management buyout. His contribution across all areas of Wren Sterling has been enormous, and he hands over a business that has the foundations in place to realise our growth plan. I look forward to continuing working with Ian on our critical risk and acquisition agendas.
