Peter Craddock, the former group operations director at national IFA Perspective who stepped down from his post in January, has joined restricted advice giant St James’s Place as head of large acquisitions.
Mr Craddock left Perspective at what was seen as a difficult time for the group, as it was forced to shelve a £28m flotation last year amid a lack of interest and called a halt to its acquisition strategy after it reported a pre-tax loss of £1.5m for 2012.
At the time of his departure, Phil Carr, Perspective’s finance director, also stepped down from his role. In the months since, Aldrew Aldridge, marketing director, has also left the firm.
On the same day that Mr Craddock departed the national firm, it was announced that he had been appointed to the Financial Conduct Authority’s Regulatory Decisions Committee. He is also a director of The Association of Professional Financial Advisers, an associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and a chartered director.
St James’s Place has been one of the firms frequently cited by analysts as being among the most likely to profit from the Retail Distribution Review, in part due to its vertically integrated model which has led some to question its pricing.
The firm has been acquisitive of late, in July completing the acquisition of Asia-based expat advice firm Henley, in a move that saw the firm add 50 advisers and £400m assets under management to the group, along with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai.
In March SJP entered the FTSE 100, after its market capitalisation rose to nearly £4.3bn. In its 2013 results the firm reported a rise in funds under management from £3.35bn to £4.3bn and a surge in pre-tax profits from £459.7m to £674.5m.
