Mr Conway was formerly sales and marketing director at Cofunds.
Mr Conway joined Cofunds at the start of 2008 and had previously worked as head of propositions and commercial development at Sesame.
He will be taking over from Tim Sargisson who has been promoted to chief executive of IFG Financial Services.
IFG acquired James Hay in March 2010 and Mr Sargisson will have the task of maximising growth and revenue opportunities.
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Mr Sargisson has worked at IFG since 2002 and as a managing director of the group since November 2005.
Mark Bourke, chief executive of IFG Group, said: "James Hay Partnership has strengthened significantly over the last number of years. Tim has been a driving force in this success and in particular the development of our new product offerings.
"Taking over at James Hay Partnership will be Alastair Conway. He comes to us with an excellent track record and we look forward to the next stage of the James Hay Partnership's development under Alastair's management."
The pair will take up their positions on 4 March subject to approval by the Financial Services Authority.

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