Hawksmoor Investment Management, based in Exeter in Southwest England, has opened for business as a private client bespoke investment management company. The firm was founded at the end of 2007 by chief executive, John Crowley, who was previously head of investment management at iimia, the AIM-listed financial services group and prior to that was an institutional stockbroker in the City of London. Mr Crowley said: "Increasingly, other financial advisors prefer to use smaller, regionally-based providers, where they can enjoy a service with a more personalised and flexible approach. This is the space where Hawksmoor wants to be." Last September, iimia anounced a merger with multi-asset manager MitonOptimal Group which will result in a change of name to iimia MitonOptimal.