St James’s Place calls in ex Prudential boss as its new chief executive
London wealth manager St James’s Place has appointed the former boss of insurance giant Prudential as its new chief executive today as veteran Andrew Croft prepares to step down later this year.
In an announcement this morning, the listed investment firm said Mark Fitzpatrick will take over the reins as chief executive designate from the 1st October.
Fitzpatrick is set to take over from Andrew Croft who has been with the firm since 1993 and served as chief executive since 2018. Prior to that, Croft had been finance chief from 2004 to 2017.
He will formally step down from the role in December when Fitzpatrick, who served as interim chief of Prudential and chief financial office for five years, will formally take on the job.
“I am delighted to announce the appointment of Mark Fitzpatrick as SJP’s next Chief Executive Officer,” 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.”
The changeover comes after a tricky period for the City’s money managers in which skittish investors have pulled money in droves and volatile markets had hammered investments.
In its latest full year results in February, St James’s place said its funds under management had fallen to £148.4bn in 2022, down from £154bn in 2021.
The firm was also named and shamed as having the highest number of under performing “dog funds” in the industry earlier this year.