Verbatim Asset Management, the financial planning arm of UK-based SimplyBiz Group, has continued a run of additions to its investment committee with the appointment of Chris Fleming of Distribution Technology.

At Distribution Technology Fleming is head of investment, responsible for the risk-profiling of funds and setting the quarterly assumptions that drives the asset model within Dynamic Planner (the firm’s advisor planning platform). In his prior career Fleming was a senior investment consultant advising pension scheme trustees at Aon Hewitt, and also a fund analyst at Deutsche Asset Management.

In his new role Fleming will provide guidance and assessment for Verbatim’s asset models and financial planning methodology. He will also support Verbatim’s team in monitoring the fund and discretionary managers the firm draws on in serving advisor firms.

At the end of last month Verbatim added WAY Fund Managers' chief executive Peter Smith to its investment committee; Smith is also a director of Verbatim Discretionary Managers.

As well as Fleming and Smith, Verbatim’s investment committee comprises chairman Jim Roberts, ex-investment director at Skandia; Ronan Kearney, managing director at Allium Capital; and Ken Rayner, director of Rayner Spencer Mills. 

Neil Stevens, managing director of Verbatim Asset Management, recently said that the firm is set for "very significant growth in 2013" and is currently in hiring mode.

At present Verbatim serves around 3,000 advisors from across 1,400 individual firms. The firm said it offers a range of financial planning, portfolio management and client proposition and marketing materials that meet the requirements brought about by the forthcoming Retail Distribution Review reform package, which goes live at the end of this year.

The SimplyBiz Group also includes Compliance First, SimplyBiz Mortgages and the non-profit New Model Business Academy.