Future Capital Partners, the London-based alternative investment boutique, has appointed Tim West as its new deputy chief executive.

West joins from Babcock and Brown, where he was both head of the London office and CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Before this he had been European chief operating officer at iShares, the exchange-traded funds business which is now part of US asset manager BlackRock. His prior career also includes senior investment banking and wealth management roles in the UK and Switzerland.

In his new role West will work closely with Tim Levy, FCP’s chief executive, and the firm’s senior team to manage and develop its investment and distribution strategies. He will also take over the responsibilities of Trevor Castledine, chief operating officer, who is stepping down at the end of his contract.

“Tim’s appointment is a clear signal of our ambitions to continue to raise the bar and to move the business to the next level. As a firm, we have undergone rapid growth since we established over 10 years ago, and we firmly believe that the business is poised to transform and grow even further over the next 10 years,” said Levy.

“We are creating an environment and infrastructure to meet and help support the challenge ahead. Tim will be pivotal in helping us to get there.”

In other expansionary moves, in May FCP appointed Alan Cross as business development manager – a role in which he is responsible for developing and strengthening relationships with accountancy and intermediary firms among FCP’s client base in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Cross joined the firm from Scottish Widows where he was an intermediary account manager, responsible for promoting life and pension products to the IFA market.