Pension and investment group Embark has rebranded the Zurich Investment and Retail Platform after completing the takeover of the business.

The Retail Investment Platform will now be known as Advance by Embark and the Investment Services business will now operate under the Horizon by Embark brand.

Embark, which owns Vested, Rowanmoor and The Adviser Centre, acquired Zurich’s Investment and Retail Platform (Sterling ISA Managers Limited) and its Authorised Corporate Director (ACD) as well as the Investment Management (Zurich Investment Services (UK) Limited) businesses.

Advance by Embark will be led by Embark managers Phil Smith, chief executive, and Phil Bungey as chief operating officer, alongside two continuing non-executive directors, Priscilla Davies and James Butler.

Ms Davies has 25 years’ experience in financial services and spent 15 years at Janus Henderson in a number of leadership roles. She is currently chairman of UBS Asset Management UK.

Mr Butler has 30 years’ legal and executive experience across the financial services sector. He was chairman of Endsleigh Insurance Services and chaired the Audit Committee of Zurich Assurance Limited for eight years.

The leadership of Horizon by Embark will be comprised of Thomas Rostron, chief executive, and Fraser Blain, chief commercial officer. Monika Machon and Jacqueline Lowe will be non-executive directors having previously had similar roles at Zurich.

Mr Rostron previously led the European Asset Management capabilities of Barclays Wealth while Mr Blain was formerly head of UK wholesale distribution at Allianz Global Investors UK.

Ms Machon is a board member of GAM Holding AG while Ms Lowe is a board member at Rathbone Unit Trust Management, as well as chairman of T Bailey Asset Management. She has 30 years’ financial services experience, including with Standard Life and Aberdeen Standard Investments.

Jamie Drewett, former head of IFA Distribution at Zurich, has been appointed group head of distribution.

Embark said the businesses transfer £11bn in platform assets and £0.6bn of multi-assets to Embark, along with an advised client book of 130,000, mostly dominated by SIPP clients. 

The deal takes the Embark Group’s Assets Under Administration to over £33bn for more than 365,000 consumer clients. Embark says the deal makes the company the 7th largest player in the advised platform market. Assets have yet to be transferred from another recent Embark acquisition, Alliance Trust Savings.

Phil Smith, chief executive, Embark Group, said: “We are very pleased to have successfully concluded these transactions, despite the additional hurdles produced by the COVID-19 environment.

“We are equally pleased to see the robustness of the business through the recent and ongoing market volatility emanating from this situation. Our attention is now firmly on business continuity and servicing our new clients and distribution partners, enhancing the proposition we provide, and continuing to safely grow our competitive presence in this exciting market.”