Wealth manager St James’s Place (SJP) has hired former Prudential boss Mark FitzPatrick to be its next CEO.

He will take up the role of chief executive officer designate from 1 October, replacing current CEO Andrew Croft.

His appointment to the role had been widely speculated in recent weeks.

After a period as CEO designate, he will fully take over the role from current CEO Andrew Croft on 1 December, subject to regulatory approval.

Mr FitzPatrick was group CEO of Prudential plc on an interim basis until 24 February. Prior to this, he was the chief financial officer of Prudential from 2017 to 2022, becoming chief operating officer in July 2019. In recent years he had been part of a team which shifted Pru towards a business focused on Asia and invested in “digitally enabled face-to-face advice,” SJP said.

Before joining Prudential, he was a managing partner at Deloitte, a member of the executive committee and vice chairman between 2011 and 2015. He previously led Deloitte’s insurance and investment management audit practice and its insurance industry practice. He is also a non-executive director and chair of the audit and risk committee of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC and a trustee of the British Heart Foundation.

Mr Croft has been with SJP since 1993. He served as chief financial officer from 2004 to 2017 and has been CEO since 2018. He will step down as a director of the company on 1 December but will remain working with the company to ensure an ‘orderly handover’ and will continue to help the business into 2024.

Mr Croft has steered SJP through one of its most successful periods with numbers of advisers, profits and income all growing strongly in most years. However in recent times the company has been criticised in some quarters for its sales incentives and alleged high charges on some investments. Despite this it remains one of the UK’s largest and most successful wealth managers with nearly £160bn under advice and management and more than 4,000 advisers, many of them Chartered.

Andrew Croft said: “I am immensely proud of all we have achieved at St James’s Place. Having joined the business over three decades ago, I can see just how far we have come.

"From a start-up in 1991 to a FTSE100 company today, St. James’s Place has transformed the wealth management industry by providing trusted face-to-face, personalised advice. Our success is down to the depth and quality of the Partnership and the enduring relationships they forge with clients to deliver great consumer outcomes. It has been a great privilege to work with everyone within our broad St. James’s Place community, and I wish Mark and the business every success in the future.”

Mark FitzPatrick said: “St. James’s Place is a business full of people who are passionate about helping families and individuals secure their financial futures.

“The distinctive quality of the service provided by its Partners is more important now than ever, and I cannot wait to join the team. By continuing to do the right thing for clients and adapting with agility to our fast-changing world, I am confident that St. James’s Place will be in a strong position to create value for all stakeholders in the years to come.”

Paul Manduca, chair of St James’s Place, said: “Mark has a well-established track record in retail financial services and the board believes he will bring expertise and energy to the role. We all look forward to working with him.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Andrew for his unwavering commitment to St. James’s Place over the last 30 years. During his tenure as chief executive officer since 2018, client funds under management have grown to £157.5 billion, cementing our position as the leading financial advice and wealth management business in the UK today. Andrew will be greatly missed by everyone at SJP, and we wish him our very best in his retirement.”