The investment manager confirmed that the resignations of Chris Bolshaw, Jeremy Sharp, Simon Burnett, Matthew Dickinson, Jonathan Rowland, Rebecca Gouldstone and Alison Hubbard necessitated the closure.
Bolshaw and Burnett are currently on an unspecified period of gardening leave, while the remaining staff have various contractual obligations to fulfil. All will join Walker Crips’ new Truro branch in March, after which the Charles Stanley operation will close “in due course”.
Charles Stanley said that it will continue to service clients in the region from its Plymouth and Exeter branches.
The group cited the reason for the departures as the staff’s dissatisfaction with the firm's compliance with the regulatory environment imposed by suitability reviews, in which wealth managers must assess how appropriate portfolios are to individual clients.
The firm also announced six departures from its Nottingham operation – branch manager Riccardo Landucci, Helen English, Michael Harvey, Heidi Quinlan-Moss, Beatrice Landucci and Sara Andison.
Senior investment managers Andrew Baker and Dean Slee will continue the running of the Nottingham side of what will be an integrated Midlands service from the Leicester office.
A spokesman explained that the resignations from the Nottingham branch were down to the opening of the firm’s Leicester operation in October 2013.
“Nottingham felt squeezed because we bought a major office in Leicester, and the Nottingham branch managers feel that we have outgrown them,” he said.
The news follows the firm closing its Liverpool office in November – the operation was initially due to close in December after failing to become profitable, but its demise was accelerated by the resignation of its managers.
When asked why Charles Stanley is undergoing the changes across its service, the spokesman cited the guidelines imposed by suitability reviews as a major factor.
He said: “This is quite a big undertaking, and has been a drag on profitability as investment managers are spending so much time on suitability and not getting enough business.”
On the other side of the Truro upheaval, Walker Crips is to open a new office in the area the end of February.
The new branch will be headed by investment managers Chris Bolshaw and Jeremy Sharp; both will arrive from Charles Stanley Group’s Truro operation along with five other personnel.
After an unspecified period of gardening leave, Bolshaw and Sharp will head the new Walker Crips branch following their roles at the helm of its Charles Stanley counterpart, utilising more than 25 years’ experience in the region.
A company spokesperson said that the new Truro branch is part of the group’s ongoing expansion plans as it seeks to capitalise on the environment instigated by the introduction RDR in two years ago.
The Truro office will be Walker Crips’ ninth regional branch in addition to the larger London and York operations and the firm’s core office in Romford.
The announcement comes as the company nears the end of its two-year restructure in order to abide by new Financial Conduct Authority guidelines.