Investment platform and SIPP provider AJ Bell has appointed Jamie Ward as head of investment solutions.

Mr Ward joins from CRUX Asset Management where he was fund manager for the CRUX UK Core funds.

He will be responsible for managing AJ Bell’s range of investment solutions, including its managed portfolio service and multi-asset fund range.

He was formerly an equity analyst at Investec and Brown Shipley where he worked with AJ Bell’s managing director Kevin Doran.

Mr Doran said: “Jamie and I have kept in touch since we worked together at Brown Shipley.  He has a wealth of experience in running multi-asset portfolios and will play a key role in ensuring we continue to deliver a wide choice of investment solutions with low costs and clear communications.”

Mr Doran is one of a number of senior appointments for the investment platform in recent months.

In January Rachel Vahey joined the platform as head of policy development. The platform’s previous head of policy, Gareth James, has taken on a new role at AJ Bell.

Last year was a strong one for AJ Bell which saw a 38% net growth in advised customers in the year ending 31 December.

The platform has 131,610 advised customers.

Assets under administration for the advised platform were £47.5bn as at 31 December.

Assets under administration for the combined advised and direct to consumer platforms business rose 23% (year on year) to £68.1bn, a rise of 4% over the quarter.