She will oversee plans to expand the office and develop it as Progeny’s base in mainland Europe.

Newell’s focus will be growing the team, building out capacity and defining the key role the expanded office will play in the wider Progeny business in Europe. She has worked in the Brussels office for a decade, and as a financial adviser for five years, with clients in Belgium, Luxembourg and France.

The office was initially established by The Fry Group, which was acquired by Progeny in 2023.

Newell commented: “I am delighted to take up this position heading up the Belgium operation. It is a hugely exciting time for our Brussels office as we look to invest, recruit and grow and I am pleased to be part of this journey as we expand not only in Belgium but further into Europe.”

CEO Neil Moles added: “Amanda will bring great energy and entrepreneurial flair to the role. She has extensive experience of Brussels and understands the opportunities and challenges facing our European clients.

“Our Belgium office will be a key anchor point for our European activities where we can build on an already successful footprint to support our clients on the continent. We’re committed to investing to build out our European function and international business.”

The firm, which is in administration, poorly advised people to transfer out of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes, including the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS), according to the regulator.

Arthur Cobill, an adviser at IFM, and William Hofstetter, one of its directors, have been banned from advising customers on pension transfers and pension opt outs.

Hofstetter has also been banned from holding any senior management function at a regulated firm.

Cobill and Hofstetter agreed to pay £120,000 and £40,000 respectively to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) to contribute to compensation for IFM’s customers.

The regulator said the firm operated a contingent charging model, which meant it only collected fees if customers transferred out of their DB pension schemes following the firm’s advice. This approach benefitted IFM, Hofstetter and Cobill but risked the long-term financial health and interests of their customers.

Customers transferring out of the BSPS were already in a ‘vulnerable position’ due to the uncertainty surrounding the scheme, the FCA noted.

Out of 307 IFM customers advised to transfer out of their DB pension scheme, 261 completed the process. Cobill advised 245 of those, including 198 members of the BSPS. Hofstetter was responsible for the compliance oversight.

Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said: ”Pensions are the safety net people spend their lives building. For many customers, their DB pension was their most valuable asset, and it was their only retirement provision other than their state pension.

“As experienced advisers, Mr Cobill and Mr Hofstetter, and IFM should have known better than to unravel this. It is only right that Mr Cobill and Mr Hofstetter contribute towards compensating those affected.”

Quilter has appointed Kirsty Anderson as a retirement and tax specialist. She has joined in a new role based in Scotland working with advisers in the north of the UK.

Anderson moves over from M&G Wealth, where she was a pensions specialist for nine years. Prior to that she was a business development manager at Royal London having previously worked for Standard Life.

Reporting to Roddy Munro, head of technical sales at Quilter, Anderson will be part of a seven-strong ‘on the road’ team supporting advisers with a focus on technical tax and pensions issues. The team conducts workshops, events and seminars, as well as one-to-one sessions with advisers to help enhance understanding of the ever-changing tax and retirement landscape.

The announcement follows the recent promotion of Michelle Brodie who was previously a wealth management consultant for Quilter and has now joined the technical team as a tax and trust specialist.

Bentley Reid

The employee-owned wealth manager has appointed Paul O’Neill as chief investment officer.

He will be based in the London office and takes over the role from Peter Clark, who has been appointed chief executive.

O’Neill was head of UK asset management and research at Butterfield Private Bank in London for five years and before that he was portfolio manager of the Talisman Value Fund at Talisman Global Asset Management, and a portfolio manager at Slater Investments.

Most recently he has worked as a strategic change project manager for Schroders, Hermes and Fidelity, including leading the Schroders Private Wealth ESG project and launching the new Public Private Assets fund for Fidelity.

Clark said: “We are thrilled that Paul has joined our growing team. He has a proven track record running multi-asset portfolios for private clients, and family offices, as well as launching new Alternative Asset funds and building teams.”

O’Neill said: “I am excited to join Bentley Reid at this key stage of the company’s development. The team has built an excellent reputation for providing high-quality wealth management services which is tightly focussed on individual client needs.”

Evelyn Partners

The firm has appointed Mickey Armstrong as a financial planner in its Knutsford office.

He joins Evelyn Partners from AES International in Dubai where he worked as a chartered financial planner and advised high net worth expats, helping structure their wealth for the future, repatriation plan and inheritance planning.

Prior to that Armstrong spent more than six years at Equilibrium Financial Planning in Wilmslow, Cheshire where he was a Chartered Financial Planner focusing on retirement and lifestyle planning.

He will be based at Evelyn Partners’ office at Booths Park in Knutsford.

Fidelity International

The company has appointed Niamh Brodie-Machura as co-CIO to work alongside Andrew McCaffery.

Brodie-Machura will run Fidelity’s equities division, while McCaffery will head up its fixed income, multi asset and private asset departments.

She joined Fidelity Investments in 2011 and was previously managing director of equity research and co-head of equity sustainable investing.

Prior to joining Fidelity, she held various roles as an equity analyst and sector portfolio manager at Pioneer Investments, Merrion Stockbrokers and Tilman Asset Management.

Keith Metters, president of Fidelity International, said: “We are pleased to welcome Niamh to Fidelity International. She brings a deep understanding of the asset management business and investment process through her seasoned experience working with global equity investment teams.

The MPS will initially come to the Parmenion, M&G and Morningstar platforms, with more expected to follow shortly after.

WealthSelect has grown to reach £14bn in assets under management over its 10 years in operation.

It has been managed by portfolio manager Stuart Clark since inception. Bethan Dixon joined Clark in 2022 following an expansion of the range, with Helen Bradshaw also becoming a portfolio manager in 2023.

The MPS began as active and blended portfolios only, but in 2022 passive portfolios and a range of responsible and sustainable investment options were added.

Steven Levin (pictured), chief executive of Quilter, said: “WealthSelect has been a real success story in terms of helping clients achieve their financial goals over the past decade.

“MPS solutions are now a crucial part of the adviser toolkit and we provide one of the most comprehensive solutions in the market. We want advisers to have greater access and choice and thus the time feels right to add WealthSelect to other platforms.”

Clark added: “Despite the challenges the market has thrown up over the years, WealthSelect has continued to deliver good risk adjusted returns. There has been a huge amount of upheaval in the past decade with the likes of the Covid pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Brexit referendum and the most aggressive rate hiking cycle in history.

“The next decade shows no signs of slowing down, but I am excited to see advisers have even greater access to WealthSelect as we roll it out across the platform market.”

The PFS board has appointed Ben Wright as a director of the organisation.

Wright is a chartered financial planner and fellow of the PFS, based in Sheffield. He will serve an initial four-year term, with his first board meeting set for 21 March.

The PFS board has also elected two of its existing directors, Carla Brown and Daniel Williams, as vice presidents of the professional membership body.

Both Brown and Williams will act as vice president this year, with one of them to be elected to serve as president in 2025, subject to confirmation at this year’s AGM. The other will serve as president in 2026, again subject to confirmation at the next AGM.

Brown will additionally take on the role of chair of the PFS power panel, on which she has served as an active member for several years.

Fidelity International

The firm has appointed Keith Metters to lead its overall business as president.

Metters, who joined the company in 2020 to head up its Workplace Investing business arm, will report to chair Abigail Johnson.

Metters has more than 25 years of experience in the industry, having previously worked in the US at Fidelity Investments. While there, he adopted a range of roles, most recently leading its Workplace Investing core market division, where he led the implementation of investment strategies and solutions for clients.

He replaces CEO Anne Richards, who announced that she would be stepping down from her role last year.

Titan Asset Management

Square Mile Consulting and Research chief executive Richard Romer-Lee has been appointed co-CEO of Titan Asset Management.

He will share the role alongside current Titan AM CEO Paul Hunt, while also retaining his role as head of Square Mile.

The acquisition of Square Mile by Titan was announced in June 2023 and received FCA approval last week. It includes the £2.5bn in assets under management held across Square Mile’s MPS solutions.

Square Mile will continue to operate under its own brand and management.

Sarasin & Partners

The firm has appointed Nomura AM’s UK head of equity Tom Wildgoose as senior portfolio manager with a global equity focus.

Wildgoose will begin his new role on 4 March after spending over 16 years at Nomura. He began in 2007 as a global equity analyst and portfolio manager, before becoming head of global research for the UK office in 2011, and head of equity investment for global equity in the UK office in 2014.