Wealth manager Kingswood has hired from Charles Stanley and Close Brothers as it bolstered its team ahead of its expansion earmarked for this year.
Last month the consolidator told FTAdviser it had set its sights on doubling its assets under management in the UK to more than £5bn this year.
The expansion comes as the company anticipates growing to more than 200 employees across the UK and US once deals currently under due diligence are closed in the coming months.
In a bid to achieve this Kingswood today (March 2 ) announced it had made senior hires from Charles Stanley, Close Brothers Asset Management and St James’s Place Wealth Management.
Kingswood hired Harriet Griffin as its chief operating officer, who formerly held the same role at Charles Stanley in its private client investment management team.
Richard Bernstein has joined the company as chief risk officer, having most recently working at Close Brothers Asset Management as head of risk and central compliance.
The company also hired Kirsten Owbridge to the newly-created role of managing director of the group's human resource team. She joins from St James’s Place Wealth Management where she was a senior HR business partner.
Gary Wilder, group chief executive at Kingswood, said: "2019 was a milestone year for Kingswood as the growth capital from Pollen Street allowed the firm to capitalise on the consolidation opportunities available in the global wealth management market.
"We are building a very strong and experienced management team in the UK and US to take advantage of the opportunities in both markets.
"We have already seen a strong start to the year, and with several imminent acquisitions in the UK, expect the business to grow substantially."
In September last year Kingswood confirmed it had secured £80m to fund its pipeline in a deal with investment management firm Pollen Street Capital, hailing the fundraising as a "hugely significant milestone".
Earlier this month Mr Wilder told FTAdviser he expected this funding to be fully allocated to deals within 18 months.
rachel.mortimer@ft.com
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