AJ Bell head of investment management Matthew Brennan has left after just shy of five years at the platform group.
Brennan (pictured) joined the FTSE 250 firm in 2017 and was responsible for the day-to-day running of its multi-asset portfolios. Prior to this he worked for Brown Shipley as a senior fund manager and head of fixed income research.
According to his Linkedin profile, he has landed at Valu-Trac Investment Management, which provides authorised corporate director services, as head of investment oversight.
Portfolio Adviser understands Brennan’s duties will be taken over by Jamie Ward, who joined AJ Bell as head of investment solutions from Crux Asset Management in March.
Ward is also a Brown Shipley alum, having started his career there, having also had stints at Investec and Wolos Capital. He previously managed the Crux UK Core fund, which has since been handed to Richard Penny.
Last week AJ Bell announced its founder Andy Bell would be stepping down from his role as chief executive, passing the baton to deputy CEO Michael Summersgill.
Despite a tougher market backdrop, AJ Bell has not seen a dip in new customers, which grew 21% to 418,309 in the six months to 31 March 2022 compared to a year ago. It closed out its last trading period with £71.4bn in assets under administration.
