Kleinwort Benson has named a former senior fund management senior manager as head of charities, a newly-created role.

Kleinwort Benson, the London-headquartered wealth manager, has appointed Gemma Woodward as head of charities, a newly-created role, reporting to Stephen Rothwell, head of private wealth management.

Woodward joins from Newton Investment Management, where she was lead manager of Newton's Socially Responsible Investment Fund for Charities and responsible for charity investment mandates, an area she has specialised in for over ten years.

She began her career at Lloyds Private Banking, before moving to Henderson Global Investors Private Asset Management business.

Woodward is also an independent investment advisor to the Royal National Insitute of Blind People's investment committee and co-chair of the charity Women and Health.

In other recent hires, last month Kleinwort appointed former Macquarie managing director Marc Thatcher as a director of its principal investments and advisory business, and Fadi Zaher as head of bonds and currencies within its fixed income team.