Ms McCarthy, who has served as Financial Planning director at the firm since 2016, has been with Bamford family-owned Informed Choice for a decade.
She becomes the first non-family member to hold the role at Informed Choice, which is a Chartered Financial Planning firm with offices in Cranleigh, Surrey and Petersfield, Hampshire.
She takes over the managing director role from Martin Bamford, who becomes director of client education with responsibility for investment research and marketing.
Ms McCarthy joined Informed Choice in September 2009, initially as a Paraplanner, before becoming a Financial Planner.
The Chartered Financial Planner, Chartered Wealth Manager and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) has more than 15 years’ experience in retail financial services, previously working with a national IFA firm in several different roles, including as a wealth adviser.
As part of the change in roles, Mr Bamford will hand over responsibility for his remaining portfolio of clients at Informed Choice and focus on the growth of his creative agency, Bamford Media.
Commenting on the appointment, Informed Choice founder Nick Bamford, said: “We recognise Shelley’s immense contribution to the development of the Informed Choice Financial Planning proposition and growth of the business in recent years.
“It’s heartening to pass responsibility for the day-to-day management of the firm to such a driven, engaging individual, as we enter the next phase of our business journey.”
Shelley McCarthy added: “I’m honoured to have been asked to lead Informed Choice in the exciting next stage of its growth.
“Informed Choice has an immense reputation within the financial services profession and within our local markets of Surrey and Hampshire.
“The coming years offer us a fantastic opportunity to embrace technology, become more efficient and deliver our value proposition to a larger number of clients.”