McLeod-Clarke has been on long-term sick leave since April this year and when he returns will run institutional rather than retail mandates.
Wharrier, who joined on 1 September, will work alongside Adam Avigdori, co-manager of the £500m BlackRock UK Income fund and the £44m BlackRock Income and Growth trust, reporting to Luke Chappell, co-head of the UK equity team.
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He will also be responsible for company research for the aerospace and defence sectors.
Wharrier joins from NewSmith Asset Management where he founded its UK equity team. Prior to this he was a director at Mercury Asset Management having joined as a graduate trainee in 1994 where he also worked alongside Avigdori.
This is the same Mercury Asset Management that was acquired by Merrill Lynch, which became Merrill Lynch Investment Managers before being acquired by BlackRock in 2006.