Standard Life Aberdeen has hired Brooks Macdonald CEO Caroline Connellan to be the new chief executive of its personal wealth division which includes Financial Planning business 1825.

She will report to Stephen Bird, CEO of Standard Life Aberdeen and will be based in London.

At Brooks Macdonald deputy CEO Andrew Shepherd will step up to become the new group CEO from 1 July.

Ms Connellan has been CEO at Brooks since 2017. She has worked for Standard Life earlier in her career and also held senior roles at HSBC, including head of UK Premier and Wealth, and McKinsey. Her earlier career also included a stint as a private client fund manager with Newton Investment Management. 

SLA’s personal wealth business includes 1825 Financial Planning and SLA’s direct-to-customer propositions, including Digital Retirement Advice. 

Standard Life Aberdeen, soon to be rebranded as Abrdn, says it plans to expand its personal wealth division. Its 1825 arm has, however, struggled to grow rapidly and cut some staff in recent times.

Stephen Bird CEO, Standard Life Aberdeen, said: “I am delighted that Caroline will be joining us. She is an outstanding talent with clear and proven ability in building exceptional wealth management businesses, both organically and via acquisition. Critically, she has a deep customer-centric mindset and extensive experience in creating compelling and innovative offerings. Earlier this year, we outlined our strategy for growth encompassing three vectors; asset management, adviser and personal.

“Alongside significant investment in asset management and our adviser support business, our intention is to build a market-leading wealth management proposition to capture value in the growing savings and pre-retirement market. The appointment of Caroline to lead our Personal Wealth business will be instrumental in delivering our objectives and I’m extremely pleased that she has shown strong confidence in our strategy and brand by joining us.”

Ms Connellan said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining SLA given its ambitions and commitment to the growing wealth market. Stephen's vision for the business is dynamic and bold, and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to lead and shape the Personal Wealth business, building on its current quality offering. 

“There is an increasing need for individuals to save for the future, particularly for retirement, in a way that works for them - I believe we can play an important role in this, through a market-leading offering, digital innovation and strong customer relationships. I'm hugely looking forward to joining the leadership team at SLA and playing my part in leading the change over the coming years.”

At Brooks Macdonald Group Mr Shepherd as will begin a process of handover from Ms Connellan with immediate effect.

He is currently group deputy CEO and CEO of the group's International business.  He has worked in financial services for 27 years and joined Brooks Macdonald in 2002.  

Mr Shepherd said: "I take over a strongly performing and well capitalised business with highly talented people and a leading full-service investment management proposition.  The business continues to deliver successfully against the strategic objectives set out last year, with momentum building.  I am confident in the future prospects of the group and look forward to working with everyone to continue both to create shareholder value and to deliver robust investment performance and outstanding service for our clients and intermediaries."