Syndicate Asset Management, the UK-listed fund management group, has appointed Chris Gillam as an IFA relationship manager to its Chelmsford-based wealth management business, Ashcourt Rowan.

In this newly-created role, Mr Gillam will be responsible for the promotion of the firm’s discretionary asset management services to independent financial advisors in the region, Ashcourt Rowan said in a statement.

Mr Gillam joins the firm from Blue Sky Asset Management where he worked as business development manager. Prior to that role he worked at Cazenove Capital Management, occupying a similar position.

Rowan and Company Capital Management and Ashcourt Asset Management, both subsidiaries of Syndicate Asset Management, announced their merger in October of last year. The amalgamated business is run as two separate divisions, Ashcourt Rowan Financial Planning and Ashcourt Rowan Asset Management, which together have a national network of 17 offices and serve some 20,000 private clients.