Psigma Investment Management has opened its first regional office, in Birmingham.
Toby Carpenter, formerly head of private clients at Charles Stanley, has been appointed to head the investment advisers’ expansion drive in the city.
Toby has more than 13 years experience of private client investment management. Prior to Charles Stanley, where he spent more than three years, he was head of private banking at Kaupthing, Singer & Freidlander’s Birmingham office. He started his career in private banking, at Coutts.
At Psigma, Toby will manage private client, charity and pension portfolios, with values from £250,000, working directly with clients and with Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) from around the region.
Psigma was established in 2002 and is part of the Punter Southall Group, a diverse financial services business offering independent financial and actuarial advice, institutional and private client investment services. The Group employs 850 people across the UK and opened its Birmingham office in 2001. It now has eight wealth managers in the city, headed by Richard Meek, and an actuarial team of 25, headed by Nigel Wilmin. Toby will join Punter Southall at their One Colmore Row base.
According to Toby, wealth managers in Birmingham currently have between £6-7bn of private client investment funds under management. However, the financial services market is undergoing radical change, as a result of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), which means IFAs are now required to source independently verified investment services.
Toby said: “Our local presence means we are positioned to capitalise on the shake-up of the industry with our robust, risk focused investment process.”
John Howard-Smith, chief executive of Psigma, said: “Toby’s appointment and wealth of experience will give us greater exposure in the West Midlands and marks an important step in Psigma’s ambitious regional expansion plans, following ten years of successive growth.”