Wealth management firm Sanlam Private Investments, part of financial service group Sanlam, is  further bolstering its presence in the North with the opening of an investment management office in Teesside.

Wealth management firm Sanlam Private Investments, part of financial service group Sanlam, is  further bolstering its presence in the North with the opening of an investment management office in Teesside.

The office will be led by Jonty Warneken, head of intermediary services North, who is based in the Harrogate office.

The new operation will comprise of four new investment managers, Sheila Tindle, Stephen Richardson, John Pearson and Mark McMullan, plus two administrative staff. (To read an exclusive interview with Sanlam Private Investments' CEO Craig Massey, click here.)

Tindle joins from Brewin Dolphin, where she was divisional director and head of its Teesside office. Before this, she was a director of Wise Speke’s Middlesbrough office and an assistant director of Allied Provincial Stockbrokers.

Richardson has over 30 years in the financial services industry and was most recently a divisional director at Brewin Dolphin. He began his career working for Sun Alliance Insurance Group, and has also worked for Stancliffe Todd and Hodgson, where he headed up their financial planning subsidiary, and also at Allied Provincial Stockbrokers, Greig Middleton, Gerrard and Barclays Wealth.

Pearson also has 30 years experience in the industry, having worked for Allied Provincial Stockbrokers, Gerrard, Barclays Wealth, and was latterly a divisional director at Brewin Dolphin in Teesside.

McMullan has worked for over 15 years as an investment manager, first with Lloyds Private Banking and then with Brewin Dolphin, where he was a divisional director.

Sanlam has also hired Helen Johnson from the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments, where she worked as a consultant to their regulatory and investment panels.

SPI caters to high net worth individuals and offers bespoke portfolios and investment ideas, with a target market for people with at least £500,000 ($683,495).