Adam&Co rebuilds its ranks with trio of fund managers

PRIVATE bank Adam & Company, which suffered a series of high-profile staff defections last year, is rebuilding its ranks with the appointment of three fund managers in its central belt offices.

The Royal Bank of Scotland-owned firm has poached Stuart Dickson from Ignis Asset Management to join its Glasgow team as investment director. Ken Wilson, previously of advisory business KGL Independent, will also join the Glasgow office as senior investment manager.

Anna Croze, who has spent a large part of her career in the City, at Henderson Global Investors and most recently at Old Mutual and Threadneedle, will join Adam & Co's Edinburgh team as senior investment manager.

The appointments will provide a boost for recently appointed managing director Graham Storrie, who is seeking to rebuild the private bank after a turbulent 12 months, which saw the departure of around 30 key staff. Included among their number was former chairman Ray Entwistle, who last week announced he is planning to set up a rival private bank in Edinburgh and London.

In addition to the staff exodus, Adam & Co was struck by customer complaints after it saddled current account holders with a controversial 40 a month charge unless they held savings, investments and borrowings of 250,000 or more.

The global head of RBS's wealth management business, Rory Tapner, recently admitted to Scotland on Sunday that Adam & Co had been "a bit lazy" in its communication with customers.

As part of efforts to turn the business around, Simon Murphy was recently appointed to head the Glasgow office.

Storrie said of the new appointments: "With 1.6 billion under management, Adam is a leading wealth manager, and our Glasgow office is hugely important to us."