James Tothill joins Wesleyan as an Investment Specialist

Wesleyan has strengthened its Intermediaries team with the appointment of James Tothill as an Investment Specialist.

An experienced distribution professional, James, joins Wesleyan from Aviva Investors. He was previously Head of Retail, responsible for helping grow the business’ presence in the UK retail adviser market, with a focus on outsourced investment solutions.

Prior to Aviva, he also held roles at Zurich, Prudential and Henderson Global Investors, with experience in international markets, including South Africa, Asia and the Gulf States.

In his new role, James will work with the fund management and distribution teams, continuing the expansion of Wesleyan’s on-platform With Profits Growth Fund in the UK adviser market.

Wesleyan’s With Profits Growth Fund was the first smoothed fund available on an independent platform. Initially launched on Wealthtime in 2021, it has since expanded to Nucleus and abrdn Wrap.

In March, Wesleyan won the Financial Services Innovation Award at the FS Tech Awards. This was in recognition of the With Profits Growth Fund’s platform-first design and unique smoothing mechanism.

Together, these factors overcome historic barriers to smoothed funds operating independently on-platform, and enable advisers to benefit from daily pricing, daily trading and daily smoothing so the fund can be traded like any other on-platform fund.

In September, Wesleyan was also shortlisted as Best Strategic Platform Partner at the 2024 Schroders UK Platform Awards.

James Tothill, Investment Specialist at Wesleyan, said: "I am excited to be joining Wesleyan as Investment Specialist and to be part of the Intermediaries’ leadership team at this exciting time for the business and the intermediary market.

"With its With Profits Fund, Wesleyan has a highly distinctive offer in the growing smoothed investment solution market, with a proven track record of delivering consistent returns for investors, giving advisers a perfect solution for those clients they have identified as wanting real asset-type returns, with less than the historic associated volatility."

Karen Blatchford, Managing Director Intermediary Distribution at Wesleyan, said: "James comes with a wealth of experience having dealt with all aspects of the intermediary market, representing established investment propositions from both product providers and asset managers.

"His knowledge of the multi-asset intermediary market will support Wesleyan’s growth in this buoyant sector, and he will be a fantastic addition to the team as we continue to work to meet advisers needs so they can secure great client outcomes in markets marked by more regular volatility."