Rowan Dartington, the UK wealth manager, has named Ian Entwhistle as relationship and business development manager.

Entwhistle latterly delivered investment training for the National Association of Pension Funds. Prior to this he was an associate director responsible for day-to-day portfolio management at SLC Asset Management and before that he spent 13 years at Merrill Lynch Asset Management.

In his new role Entwhistle will be based in Rowan Dartington's Hereford office. He is tasked with growing that office’s funds under management as well as supporting the Bristol-based research team, with a special focus on fixed income products.

The firm said that his appointment forms part of its drive to increase its regional activities; it has five offices across the south of England.

In other recent developments, earlier this month Rowan Dartington’s Signature division rolled out the Signature Hybrid Portfolio Service, aimed at investors with varying risk appetites.

The service gives intermediaries five risk-budgeted modelled portfolios that invest directly in equities or through collective vehicles such as a fund. It will provide financial advisors with income, income and growth and growth variants.

The rollout comes at a time when providers of discretionary wealth management are looking to exploit the new industry landscape being forged by the upcoming Retail Distribution Review programme of reforms to financial advice, a process that has forced some advisors to outsource investment management.