The London-listed investment house said the head of British defence giant BAE will help it to pursue international growth.

Schroders has appointed BAE Systems’ chief executive, Ian King, to its board as a non-executive director.

Before taking the helm of BAE in 2008, King spent a year as the company’s chief operating officer. Previously, he was group managing director of BAE's customer solutions and support business and, before that, group strategy and planning director.

He will join the board and nominations committee on 1 January 2017.

“Ian brings considerable experience in leadership positions in major multi-national companies, which will be of great value to us as we continue to grow our business internationally,” said Michael Dobson, chairman of Schroders.