The wealth management house appoints a prominent figure in the investment world as its CIO.

Rowan Dartington, the UK-based investment firm recently acquired by St James’s Place (see story here), has appointed industry luminary John Betteridge as its chief investment officer.

Betteridge, who has been at Rowan Dartington since September 2014, will oversee the discretionary wealth manager’s asset allocation strategy for private clients and advisors across the business’s different entities. In his previous role at the firm, he was non-executive director and chairman of the asset allocation committee.

A prominent figure in wealth management, Betteridge was formerly chief investment officer for Prudential UK’s insurance division, where he had oversight of assets in excess of £150 billion ($213.3 billion).

The appointment takes place as Bristol-headquartered Rowan Dartington, which oversees a total of around £1.2 billion, sets its sights on expanding assets under management and accrediting the partners at St James’s Place to be able to recommend Rowan Dartington’s offerings to clients. Rowan Dartington’s brand will remain and the business will continue to serve clients outside the St James’s Place network.

There are more than 30 investment managers at Rowan Dartington and that number is likely to grow by about 20 this year, Graham Coxell, executive chairman of the firm, told this publication in a recent interview.

The business also intends to build a north of England presence with offices in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Edinburgh, and possibly Nottingham and Newcastle, Coxell said.

“We aim to write about £500 million of new business per annum,” he continued.

“St James’s Place really likes the Rowan Dartington brand and what we have achieved and want this to continue,” he said.

Commenting on Betteridge’s appointment, he said: “John has played a very important role in Rowan Dartington’s recent achievements and it is great to have the opportunity to deepen his involvement in the company’s growth. We expect our assets under management to grow significantly in the coming years and John’s experience is another guarantee that the future is looking bright for Rowan Dartington and our clients. He has a massive following in the market and that is a big thing for us.”

As far as accreditation of St James’s Place staff with the Rowan Dartington offering is concerned, it will take place in a gradual way, with about 1,500 persons going through the process by the end of 2016, he said.

A big plus for Coxell, as far as his firm’s deal with St James’s Place is concerned, is how the latter firm’s partners stand behind the advice they give so that a client will be recompensed if guidance goes wrong. “Im my opinion, SJP must have the most compelling advisory and investment offering in the UK,” he said.

Coxell waxed lyrical about his firm’s own in-house portfolio monitoring system, designed to give managers a daily view of whether an investment was in line, or not, with a client’s stated risk profile – a crucial factor at a time when investment suitability is closely watched by regulators.

“That [system] is the real jewel in the crown,” Coxell added.