Wealth manager and broker Charles Stanley has appointed Paul Abberley as its new chief executive officer.

Wealth manager and broker Charles Stanley has appointed Paul Abberley as its new chief executive officer.

It follows Sir David Howard's resignation in September. He spent nearly half a century at the top of the firm and remains non-executive chairman.

Abberley was previously the interim chief executive officer of Aviva Investors and Aviva Investors Global Services as well as a member of the Aviva Group executive committee.

“Paul stood out from amongst a strong field of candidates, both internally and externally, that entered the process for appointment for the chief executive officer role. This process was swift and my thanks go to our non-executive Directors, David Pusinelli and Bridget Guerin, who handled this appointment with a great deal of professionalism. Paul is perfectly equipped with the knowledge, experience and expertise to lead Charles Stanley going forward and my fellow directors and I wish him well in the role,” said Howard.

The firm has had a tough year with the company issuing a second profit warning five months earlier in September. It said profit margins were under pressure after low transaction volumes continued to hit commission income and management ploughed more investment into improving its services.